Cinderbella
by GoldeneyedBella
Summary: Bella is the orphan step-daughter of Victoria. Her two evil step-sisters, Jessica and Lauren, are hellbent on ruining her life. Who could possible saver her from this life except the one and only Edward Cullen? *Cullens are still Vampires!*
1. Rain, Rain Go Away

**I do not own Twilight…or Cinderella…or Ever After…**

**Chapter 1**

"Married? How could you get married?!" I screamed, ignoring the way my voice squeaked. Of course I was only nine years old, and didn't fully understand what my father getting married meant. I only knew that I didn't like it, I rarely even liked him dating, it was just so odd after the death of mom that my dad would find a way to move on somehow.

"Sweetheart, you need a mother, and she has two daughters of her own. They are very sweet." He didn't say anything about how sweet my "mother" was. I hated this, I didn't want anyone to come. My father and I had been close over the years since my mother's death.

"Can I go now?" I didn't want to face it anymore, I just wanted to go in my room and mope.

"No, I want you there with me at the party. Her daughters will be there and I want all of you to become the best of friends." Friends…I hated the idea. Something bad was going to happen, my dad had left no inclination over any possible dating or even marriage. "She bought you this, wear it tonight." I stuck my chin out, and my dad realized the stubborn edge.

"I swear Bells, don't even start. I love you sweetheart, and I'm doing this for us both." I reached up and took the small dress, disliking the bright pink of it. "Everything will be fine honey, stop worrying." I finally smiled at him, realizing the battle was lost.

--

I jumped awake, my skin clammy still from the dream. I hated that particular dream, knowing that in the end nothing had turned out the way he thought. I ran towards the bathroom, stumbling halfway towards the door. I wiped the sweat from my brow and threw on a pair of jeans and a simple blue t-shirt. I pulled my hair into a bun as I stumbled down the stairway, tripping over the final step.

I walked down the driveway, towards my old truck, which Billy Black had given to me a year or so ago. He had been a very good friend of my Dad up until my Dad had died. I still kept in touch somewhat, whenever my step-mother was home he would call constantly.

I started the truck, cringing slightly as the thundering roar from the engine. I knew I was going to be late, but ever since Victoria, my step mother, had suddenly forced me into independent study during my freshman year, I had been going to school once a week to turn all my homework in and pick up any new work. Victoria had never truly told me why she wanted me out of school, but technically I would be a junior.

I pulled into the parking lot, seeing how utterly abandoned it was. I hated going before school started, I was usually bum rushed by Mike and his group. Although they were my friends, it got irritating at times the way they fought. I shut off my truck and hurried into the office, not seeing a last minute car pull into the lot.

I smiled at the brightly red-haired receptionist, there was a large stack of homework for me beside her. "Hello, Isabella. Do you have your homework for me?" She smiled brightly, looking around for some sign of a backpack. Suddenly I realized that I had left my bag in my truck.

"I'm so sorry, I left my backpack in my truck. Is it okay if I go get it real quickly?" I asked and quickly dashed out of the office. I saw my truck from the sidewalk, so brightly colored in the moody dark of Forks. The silver Volvo parked beside it caught my attention, being the nicest car I had ever seen parked in the school lot of Forks High School. Even nicer then the teachers cars. Suddenly the skies opened, up and it began to rain…hard. Feeling utterly terrible over the fact that I had forgotten my jacket at home I tried my luck and dashed forward toward my truck, hoping not to trip on any cracks in the street.

I wasn't truly paying attention, only watching the ground for dangers that could trip me. Well, technically everything was a danger to me, at least with my coordination. I wasn't looking up, just counting the steps to get to my truck and out of this rain, when I ran straight into a boulder. I fell back hard, no longer having feeling in my butt from the fall on the ground. The growl from above caught me totally off guard, I looked up, okay so technically it wasn't a boulder but it sure felt like one. There standing above me, was the Greek Adonis himself, looking utterly gorgeous in the pouring rain.

"Uh…so sorry." I pulled myself back up, still not feeling my butt at all. I slowly raised my head to look at his face, amazed at how tall he was. The expression on his face shocked me, completely disdainful yet curious as he looked me over. Suddenly he sniffed and covered his mouth frantically, his black eyes glaring hatefully at me. "S-sorry?" He rushed away, almost too fast, completely ignoring me. I stared after him, standing completely dumbfounded in the rain.

--

"Here's my work…s-sorry it's a l-little w-wet." I began to stutter, shivering heavily from the rain.

"That's alright dear. Here's your work, and I will see you next week. Maybe you'll be able to come back soon to school." She smiled at me and I smiled back.

"I've been thinking about it, I just need to talk to Victoria." Her smile faded, she knew what my step-mother was like. Everyone in town did, they all steered clear whenever she was around. Of course, she had been gone for over a year with her daughters Jessica and Lauren. I waved to her quickly and left the office, looking again for any signs of the copper-haired boy. I even looked around for the silver Volvo which had miraculously disappeared.

--

I ran inside the house, only tripping once, which in my case was a grand achievement. I heard a buzzing from inside the front room, seeing my phone vibrating flashing Victoria's name on the screen.

"Hello?" I answered warily, knowing that if she was calling I was in for a scolding.

"Hello Cinderbella." I frowned, hearing Jessica's eerily different voice over the phone. Her voice seemed to sing, which I was never used to before.

"Hello Jessica, how's Italy?" I asked, trying not to sound too rude.

"Very interesting. Did you paint our rooms?" She asked, I could hear Lauren's nasal snickering in the background.

"Yes." I was beyond annoyed, and practically itching to hang up.

"Good, mom needs to talk to you, hold on for a bit." I heard the phone being passed around, and finally I could hear it settle into someone's hand.

"Hello, Isabella. How are things in dreary old Forks?" Victoria's utterly girly voice had me fooled when I had first met her. When I was younger it brought to mind bubble gum and bells ringing. Now I hated the sound, as much as I hated her.

"Fine, it's pouring outside." I said, stunned into to silence by the sound of her light laughter. Somehow Victoria was in a good mood, which was a very, _very _rare occurrence.

"Well that sounds like always. Is there something on your mind, Isabella?" Her voice was still twinkling with laughter, which was starting to set my nerves on edge.

"I was wondering, if I could get off independent study and go back to Forks High School?" It all came out in a blur, wanting to see the mysterious boy again.

"If you can keep straight A's and do all your chores then I see no reason why not." I was in a daze for a minute, completely unsure of what I was hearing. I heard Lauren and Jessica whining and complaining in the background.

"Thank you!" I was so excited, uncaring of the fact that she hung up abruptly.

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	2. One day down

**I do not own Twilight…Cinderella…or Ever After.**

**Chapter 2**

"Here's your class schedule Bella. It's very nice to have you back." I smiled sheepishly at the receptionist's words. I grabbed the class schedule and headed to my first class, ignoring the curious stares from some of the people I had known when I was a freshman. I'm pretty sure they had all thought I had died or something.

"Psst…Bella! Bella, over here!!" Mike whispered fiercely from the back of the classroom, he was waving towards me and pointing towards the seat beside his. I walked forward and sat down beside him, hoping that it would make him stop acting like a dork.

"Hi, Bella." Mike was overtly cheerful as he leaned over and smiled at me.

"Hi, Mike." I leaned to the side pulling a folder out of my backpack.

"Hello, Bella." The voice whispered from the other seat across from mine, bells tinkling. I looked up slowly to see the small girl staring over at me with her golden eyes. She was tiny, her black hair shooting all over the place.

"Hello." My voice came out as a squeak and I couldn't help but frown.

"I'm Alice." She was smiling at me warmly, as if she knew something that I didn't.

"Hi, Alice." I smiled sheepishly when my voice stayed steady. She laughed aloud at my expression, again sounding like tinkling bells. Every eye in the room turned towards us and I blushed to the roots of my dark hair. I hated when people looked.

"Would you like to have lunch with my family and I later?" She looked at me hopefully.

"I'm not sure…who's your family?" I asked, happy that the teacher was oblivious as he began writing problems on the board.

"The blonde girl in the front is Rosalie. She's my sister." I looked around and saw the perfectly blonde girl sitting near the front of the class, typing away on her phone. "There's her brother Jasper. He's my…uh…boyfriend. Then there's Emmett and Edward."

"Are they not in this class?" I asked, looking around for other people who looked like models also.

"No, Edward has English this period and Emmett has gym. Jasper has science, so do you think you might sit with us?" She was smiling widely but the smile began to fade as her eyes zoned out.

"I don't think I can, I have to go to the library and pick up all my books." She came back to life as I answered, her smile completely gone.

"Are you sure? You will really like Edward." She seemed absolutely positive of the last part.

"If I get all my books I'll go over to your table." She looked off again, smiling widely. I began to write down really quickly what I had missed on the board. My hand was cramping painfully from writing when the bell finally rang. Alice smiled over at me and rushed out the class, straight into the arms of a man I assumed was Jasper. The rest of the day went slowly and as soon as the lunch bell rang I walked quickly towards the library.

I handed the list quickly to the stern librarian, who obviously didn't like dealing with students. She stomped towards the back and began choosing my books.

"Bella?" I turned around quickly to see a girl standing behind me with her camera.

"Hello." I felt so bad, I couldn't remember her.

"I'm Angela." She laughed shyly. She looked down towards the camera again, fidgeting somewhat.

"Oh, hi. What brings you to the library?" I asked, trying awkwardly to form a conversation.

"I was doing some research for class. Are you here to get your class books?" She smiled at me, looking around for the librarian.

"Yeah, but I doubt the librarian likes me." I looked to the clock quickly, seeing that lunch would be over soon.

"Don't worry about it, she doesn't like anyone." She said, just as the librarian came back into view. I laughed easily, feeling a lot less awkward. The librarian dropped the books in front of me, practically glaring at me. I grabbed them quickly, knowing I was probably going to fall with the weight of the five books. "Here, I'll take some of those for you." I thankfully handed her two of the books, and headed towards my locker.

"Oh, it's right over here Angela." I kept walking, finally looking up when I saw the bronze-haired boy from the other week walking along the hall. He looked up at me suddenly, his golden eyes concentrating as he stared at my face. He turned his face aside, shaking his head roughly as he picked up speed and left the hall. I walked quickly to my locker, opening the locker door and hiding my burning red face.

"That was Edward Cullen." Angela said as she placed the books she held in the locker.

"That's Edward Cullen?!" I jerked my head around, thinking back to Alice in my previous class. What had she been thinking? He obviously found me repulsive. I shook my head roughly, trying to dislodge any of the threatening tears. It was completely stupid to cry over. The bell rang loudly signaling the end of lunch and I waved quickly to Angela.

--

I sat down quickly in one of the two empty seats in my biology class. Mike, who sat across from me, tossed a note quickly to me, frowning when he missed and it went skidding towards the teachers desk. Mike stood up quickly and snuck over to where the note was hiding halfway under the desk.

"What are you doing Mr. Newton?" The teacher asked, standing above Mike, who stared up sheepishly.

"Just grabbing a…uh…a piece of homework I dropped." Mike jumped back up, frowning over the note held in the teachers hand.

"Detention, Mr. Newton." Mike glared as he turned around, walking back to his seat. There was a light laugh from the doorway and I turned quickly to see Edward looking at Mike, obviously amused over something. He finally looked over at me and straightened up, his eyes going blank. I looked away quickly, feeling my face burning again. He sat down in the seat beside me, leaning as far over as possible.

"This is from my sister, Alice." It sounded for a second as if he had stopped breathing. I looked up quickly, seeing the bright red apple sitting in front of me. I couldn't help but smile, even though her brother treated me as if I was the plague, it was nice to know she liked me.

"Tell her thank you." I whispered quietly, feeling disconnected, my voice not quite right. I looked over at his glowering face yet again, wondering why he was brooding whenever I came into view. He gave a stiff nod, turning his eyes towards the teacher. I glanced quickly at my watch, praying that the period would be over quickly.

--

The bell rang loudly, signaling freedom, at least until the next period. I watched Edward launch out of the classroom, taking a huge breath once he reached the hall. I grabbed my backpack and the red apple, catching up with Mike at the door.

"Oh…a gift from Cullen?" Mike snatched the apple away, smiling sarcastically.

"Mike, give it back. I didn't get to have lunch, so his sister gave it to me." I reached forward trying to grab the apple out of his hand but he ducked out of the way, sending me falling against a wall.

"So what? Are you guys dating now?" Mike asked, seemingly intent on my answer.

"No, now give me the damn apple." I launched forward again, but ended up landing against a very hard chest. Edward has managed to come back, his glaring eyes intent on Mike. Mike gulped awkwardly as Edward leaned over and snatched the apple out of his hand, handing it over to me. "Thank you." Edward, for the first time since I had ever seen him, smiled. He gave one final look to Mike and stepped away, walking back down the hall. I held the apple in my hands, walking off towards my final class, Gym. Mike trailed behind me, finally apologizing for taking the apple.

"I mean, I'm sorry Bella. But I don't know why Cullen got so upset over it, it's just an apple." I ignored him, stepping into the locker room so I could talk to the teacher. Luckily I didn't have to play for the day, and I was eagerly waiting to go home.

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	3. The Store

**I do not own Twilight…Cinderella…or Ever After.**

**I got so excited after posting the last chapter that I was able to write this so quickly!!!**

**Chapter 3**

I walked quickly towards my truck, checking the numerous messages on my phone. I had five missed calls and several text messages. I flipped open my phone and scrolled through the ones that were urgent…at least for Jessica and Lauren.

_**Cinder-**_

_**I don't want that pink color anymore for my room, change it to blood red. Send me pics by tomorrow morning…**_

_**p.s. have fun at school.**_

_**-Jessica**_

The second message was from Lauren.

_**Freak-**_

_**I need you to iron all the clothes left in my closet…I don't want them wrinkly when I get back. **_

_**-Lauren**_

I glared hatefully at my phone and tossed it as far to the side as possible in my truck. "Crap!" I yelled, knowing that I had forgotten all my books and that I would be up all night painting Jessica's stupid room.

"Is something wrong, Bella?" Angela asked from beside me suddenly.

"I forgot my books, plus I have to paint my step-sisters stupid room tonight." I began to walk back towards the school, seeing Edward and his family pull away in his silver Volvo. Alice waved to me from the front seat.

"Do you want me to help you with the painting? I could get a few people to help if you need it." She asked, I sighed, happy to know Angela. Already she was proving to be a helpful friend, I smiled over at her.

"That would be awesome." I pulled up in front of my locker and grabbed the books I would need for my homework.

"Okay, well if you don't have the paint I'll drive with you to the hardware store." We were walking back towards my truck, and I couldn't help but feel relieved that with Angela's help I wouldn't be up all night painting.

--

"Thank you so much, Angela!!!" The room was completely painted by 6pm. We were both covered in the red paint, looking like we were bleeding. "You could just throw those clothes away when you get home, they weren't important." I smiled, glad that I had loaned her a pair of really old jeans and a simple t-shirt. My shorts and shirts were covered in paint, splotches of the blood red color on my skin also.

"Bye, Bella. I had a lot of fun." She smiled and waved to me as she walked out towards her mother's car waiting in the driveway. I sat down with a huff on the coach, not completely eager over doing homework. I knew I had to do some shopping quickly, because we were down to pretty much nothing. I stood back up and grabbed my wallet, keys, and a jacket.

The drive to the store was usually quick, but with my truck it added another ten minutes. I knew most of the people at the store, so hopefully they wouldn't question all the dark ruby paint. I stepped through the door, hearing the familiar bell jingle. I grabbed a basket and began throwing in the necessities like bread and cereal. I walked through some of the aisles, throwing in what I needed, and thinking over which cereal was really better; Lucky Charms or Count Chocula? I threw them both in, remembering to ask the next person I saw.

I kept walking, looking down the 7th aisle, I saw Edward there frowning over the paper section. I walked up quickly, seeing him lean towards me, inhaling. "You look confused." The look on his face was hilarious, his eyebrows crinkled as he finally looked at me.

"Oh, God, are you bleeding?" He asked, sounding out of breath. I looked down quickly, having forgotten the paint.

"Nope, just paint. I kind of forgot to change." I whispered sheepishly. He took a shallow breath and his eyes turned less feverish and glassy.

"Oh…it just looked kind of like…nevermind. So why are you here?" He raised one of his perfect eyebrows, smiling. I couldn't help but wonder why he was all of a sudden acting less like the Grinch.

"I'm deciding on cereal. Okay, if you had the choice would you choose the impossibly fake vampire who seems to be named after chocolate? Or the fugitive leprechaun?" I asked, holding up the two boxes. He suddenly looked into my eyes and broke out laughing. "What?" His laughter dazzled me, and turned infectious when I began laughing also.

"Fugitive leprechaun?" His eyes were bright as he smiled down at me.

"What? Well, he's always on the run from those kids who want his lucky charms. That would make him a fugitive." I smirked somewhat, looking up at him as he thought about it.

"You have a point there. I wouldn't really know which to choose but I guess the…er…vampire cereal would be good." Edward's voice stilled and stumbled somewhat while choosing.

"So what are you doing here?" I asked, tossing the box of Count Chocula in my basket.

"Alice, desperately needed paper apparently." He frowned at the idea, and I guessed that Alice would be in trouble once he got home. "What are you thinking?" He seemed utterly frustrated as his eyes burned into mine.

"You don't seem very happy with Alice. I would venture to guess that she's in a certain amount of trouble when you get back." I blurted out, not sure why I couldn't keep my mouth closed. He laughed, nodding to me.

"I guess you could say that. But don't worry, she will…live to see you tomorrow." He said, as we began walking down the aisle. I laughed, wondering why he seemed so much nicer tonight rather than earlier. We stopped at the cash register and I piled all my stuff up, wondering why he wouldn't just go ahead of me to pay for the packet of paper he held.

"You can go ahead of me, you have less stuff after all." I didn't want to seem rude.

"You have a lot of stuff, I might as well stick around and help you carry your bags to your truck." He said, whispering so the snooping cashier would stop leaning over to listen. I smiled like a goof, and it felt as if I would melt straight into my tennis shoes.

"Thank you." Again I smiled sheepishly and blushed to the roots of my hair as he paid for his stuff and grabbed a couple of the bags in the cart. The two bags I held were the lightest, though it was hard to tell with the simple way Edward held the heaviest. I dropped the two I held in the back of the truck and he placed the ones he held beside them. "Thanks again, it was really nice of you."

"You're welcome." He seemed torn over something, and finally took a step back, his eyes becoming feverish again.

"Could you tell Alice I said hi?" I asked, pulling my truck door open.

"Sure, we won't be there tomorrow though. We're leaving town for a few days." He answered, looking down at me.

"Oh…" I looked down at the ground, wondering for a second why I felt the sudden need to ditch school the next day. Just because he wouldn't be there? "Well then tell Alice we should hang out when she gets back." I put on a false smile.

"I should warn you…hanging out for Alice is shopping. But I'll give her the message. Bye Bella." Again he smiled at me. "We won't be gone long. Just two days tops." The fact that he added the last part, as if he was trying to reassure me somehow, made me smile. I got in my truck and waved quickly, watching as he walked over to his silver Volvo.

--

(Edward Point-of-view)

"Alice! Stop singing I'm Too Sexy in Arabic and come here!" I said, knowing she would be able to hear me.

"Yes, or brother dear?" Alice asked, trying to be overly innocent.

"Don't pull that with me. Did you purposely set me up to see Bella at the store?" I asked, overly irritated with her.

"Yes…but trust me Edward, you have a definite future with her! She's perfect for you!" I rolled my eyes and stepped away, truly annoyed with her.

"After what you saw the first time…why would you do that? You know how dangerous it is for me to be around her!" Jasper was on one side of the room, lending a calming air to the room.

"Edward, it's not definite. You don't see the way you are around her, when you calm down enough you're perfect with her. Stop fighting it, I don't want to deal with you if you go back to the way you were before." Alice rolled her eyes at me, dancing around my foul mood. I glared at her, going towards the stairs so I could speak with Carlisle.

"By the way, Bella says hi." I said, halfway up the stairs.

"Oh! Did she give you her number?" Alice asked, dancing to a stop at the foot of the stairs.

"No!" I yelled indignantly, trying to hide the fact that I might have actually wanted her number.

"Dang…" Alice said, snapping her fingers in annoyance. I could hear another idea form in her head.

"Alice! Knock it off and leave her alone." I said finally on the brink of Carlisle's study.

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	4. Absent

**I do not own Twilight…**

**Chapter 4**

I woke up slowly, hearing my phone vibrating beside me. I grabbed it slowly, answering the insistent buzzing.

"Hello?" I asked groggily, my head pounding from the lack of sleep.

"Hello, Cinderbella." Why couldn't Jessica just fall off a cliff or something?

"What is it Jessica? I have to get ready for school." I asked, not even bothering to hide my annoyance.

"We need you to pick up some stuff in Port Angeles." I hated how flippant she sounded, as if she had every right in the world to boss me around.

"I have school." I wanted to badly to just hang up but I knew Victoria would find out and there would be hell to pay.

"Not today." She practically sand the small sentence.

"I can't miss school, I'll just pick everything up after school." Even if Edward and Alice wouldn't be there, I still wanted to go to school and see Angela.

"Too bad, Mom already called in your absence. Besides it's just a couple things." Damn…I knew Jessica would beg Victoria.

"Fine, whatever, what do you need?" For a minute I hated my father for leaving me with these people. I felt instantly guilty afterward, knowing that he wanted me to grow up with a family.

"Ok, well we need…" The whole list would take hours to shop for. When Jessica finally hung up I glared down at the list I held, almost an entire page long. I walked away quickly and got ready to take a shower, knowing it would be a long day.

--

I looked at my watch for the tenth time in the past hour. It was five minutes to 4 p.m., I had gotten everything that they had wanted, I was just waiting in the huge line to pay for the final thing. I hated shopping, and after today I was pretty sure I would never willingly go shopping again.

"Hi, Bella!" I looked up warily, to see the brightly smiling face of Mike.

"Hi, Mike." I had to fight to keep the sigh out of my voice. The last thing I needed at the moment was Mike trailing after me for the rest of the day.

"So…why weren't you at school today?" He raised an eyebrow at me, smirking.

"My step-mom kept me home to do chores for them. I'm just finishing them now." I knew Mike was eager to ask something, and I rolled my eyes, guessing exactly was he was going to ask.

"Yeah, Cullen and his freak of a sister were gone too." Mike said, smiling widely. I looked over and glared straight at him, causing him to step back slightly.

"You know I hate that word, Mike." Mike suddenly looked sheepish and flushed slightly, his eyes downcast. He took another step back, stepping onto the leather boot of the blonde woman behind him.

"Hmm…Freak, huh? I'll have to let Edward and Alice know you think so." Mike turned white at the insinuation in Rosalie's words.

"Uh…s-sorry. I didn't mean anything by it." Rosalie smiled over at Mike, her startlingly white teeth causing Mike to shudder yet again. Her dazzling black eyes caused Mike to start walking towards the exit of the store. "Uh, bye Bella." Rosalie smiled over at me, obviously proud of making Mike run away.

"A little harsh?" I asked, not sure why I was so openly talking to her. She was essentially a stranger. She shrugged, obviously not caring over what Mike thought. We both looked over to a largely muscled man with dark curly hair, smiling over at Rosalie. She stepped away as I moved forward to pay for the things in my arms.

--

I woke up the next day to see the message sign flashing brightly on my phone. I looked it over, realizing that I would be missing school again. If it were possible for me to get away with it, I would just ignore everything they told me to do, but I was too much of a chicken over the possible consequences from Victoria. Ever since my father had married her I had been somewhat afraid of her, she just set my nerves on edge whenever she was around. The feeling had gotten worse after my father had died.

Throughout the day I cleaned and swept what they told me needed to be done. I even stopped and weeded all the plants surrounding the house, luckily it wasn't raining although it was still dark and gloomy outside. I cleaned my truck in the driveway, even going so far as to mow the lawn.

I went on the computer shortly after noon, looking for something interesting to cook for dinner tonight. I might as well find something interesting to occupy myself tonight. I created a list of everything I would need, and jumped as I heard the doorbell ring. Angela stood in front of my doorstep, holding some homework.

"Hi Angela. What are you doing here?" I asked, after showing her in.

"I just brought over your homework. So…Mike was talking all about how he was hanging out with you the other day." She laughed over the idea, dropping the books off on one of the couches.

"Well we didn't hang out, he just ran into me when I was at a store running errands. He kind of got shown up by Edward's sister Rosalie." I laughed a little at the memory, Mike had been a constant nuisance ever since we met in middle school.

"Oh, really?" Angela seemed interested in the idea.

"Yeah, well what happened was Mike had been asking why I missed school and he mentioned how Edward was absent also. He called Alice a freak so Rosalie said something about it. He practically ran crying from the store." Angela and I both cracked up laughing.

"So, I was just about to start something interesting for dinner. Do you want to stay over to have some?" It would be nice not having to eat dinner alone, I had gotten sick of it.

"That would be fun." Angela smiled and set aside her camera.

--

I woke up the next morning, completely relieved over the fact that there was no message on my phone telling me to stay home again. I had managed to finish all my homework the other night with Angela's help in the math subjects.

I jumped up from the bed, tripping on a pair of jeans from the other day. I fell forward, hitting the wall. I checked my head quickly making sure nothing was horrible damaged by my lack of grace. I dressed quickly in a pair of black jeans and white t-shirt. I threw on a very pretty sapphire colored coat I had gotten from a friend a year or so ago. My hair was impossible as I just braided it into a bun on top of my head. I threw all my books in my backpack, eager to get to school. For some reason the thought of seeing Edward Cullen again made me push my truck faster. I smiled as I pulled in, seeing the silver Volvo on the other side of the parking lot.

"Hi, Bella!" I jumped back, stumbling against my door. Alice was smiling brightly at me, her eyes far brighter then I had ever seen them.

"Hi, Alice. How was your trip?" I asked, as I pulled my backpack over my shoulder.

"Interesting…We got back early yesterday and came back to school to see you gone." She looked me over, thinking about something. "Be careful of that puddle, you're going to ruin your pants." I jumped out of the way of the small pond, glad that she had warned me.

"So where's Edward?" I asked nonchalantly, trying to keep my looking conspicuous. Alice smiled widely, obviously excited over my wondering.

"He's with Emmett and Jasper." She seemed utterly sure of herself as we began to walk towards our first period together. I looked at her one last time, wondering over her blissfully happy expression, as if she knew something I didn't.

--

After an awkward lunch at Mike's table, his constant glaring over at the Cullen's made me nervous. I walked quickly to Biology with Mike at my side, obviously guarding me in some freaky sort of way. "Mike, knock it off." I whispered, fiercely, annoyed with the way he was acting…as if we were dating.

"Nice job, Newton." Edward laughed as he walked past, causing both Mike and I to blush. I sat down beside him at the lab desk. He looked over at me quizzically, curious over something.

"I missed you yesterday." Edward whispered to me from the side, causing Mike to lean in to listen. I blushed scarlet and looked to him suddenly, seeing his now golden eyes widen. "I mean…uh…that…er…I just didn't get the chance to see you." He seemed embarrassed as he looked down. The look on his face caused me to laugh, he looked so utterly confused and embarrassed.

"I missed seeing you too." He sighed and smiled at me, obviously glad that I didn't stress over anything he had said. It was odd thinking that such a god like Edward would be embarrassed to talk to me…simple Bella. I looked over at him one last time, catching his curious stare as class began.

**Sorry, but I'm going to try my hardest to update!! My power cord broke completely and its going to be another week before I get a new one. I'm posting this chapter with almost no power left!!! So please review, and tell me it was worth it!!!**


	5. Duck!

**I managed to figure out a way to add a new chapter!! So Please Review!!! and thanks for READING!!!**

**I do not own Twilight...but I do have the same last name as Mike if that counts for anything...lol**

**Chapter 5**

"Hi, Rosalie." I said to her, not sure exactly how she would accept me. She smiled warmly, her eyes no longer black as they were in the store.

"Hello, Bella. I'm assuming Mike has left you alone lately." I looked around, actually seeing no signs of my ever faithful golden retriever.

"I've haven't seen him since class," I shrugged, she smiled exposing all her bright white teeth.

"So how was your last class?" Rosalie asked as Alice came running down the hall...or in her case, dancing.

"Yes, Bella...how was your last class?" Alice smiled wickedly, as if she knew already.

"I talked to Edward, that's it...nothing special." We had only said two sentences to each other, although those two sentences were important to me, they would seem ridiculous to Rosalie and Alice.

"And?!" Alice asked.

"We said that we had missed each other yesterday." Rosalie smiled, and Alice stopped jumping, confusion crossing her features. She looked off for a minute, then the dazed look left and she smiled happily at me. I raised an eyebrow at her, absolutely positive that something was different about the Cullens.

"Well, bye Bella! Have fun in Gym...remember to duck!" Alice grabbed Rosalie's hand and they ran off, leaving me to wonder what she meant by ducking. I walked quickly to gym and changed into my p.e. clothes.

--

I stomped hatefully to my truck after gym. The whole experience had been terrible, with the introduction of soccer. I was absolutely horrible at soccer, running around while trying to juggle a ball was not my thing. I frowned deeper thinking of what Mike had tried to pull.

_"Newton! Pass the ball! You have to pass the ball!" The coach/teacher was yelling at the top of his lungs, I was standing near the goal, actually trying to hide. I was shoved roughly by the goalie to get out of the way. I walked away quickly, on the outskirts of the game, watching as Mike pummeled those who tried to steal the ball._

_"Newton...Pass the damn ball!" The teacher said, I jumped as he yelled. I looked over at Mike one last time and saw him eyeing me, I frowned and shook my head at him. He smirked and launched the ball towards me, he kicked it high and what Alice had said earlier reminded me. I threw myself down, feeling the mud soak through my p.e. clothes. The ball went out of the game, missing me completely. Angela walked over and helped me up, pulling me up from the mud. _

_"Newton, what was that?!" Mike shrugged to the coach, glaring._

_"It's not my fault if she doesn't know how to play." Mike said, nodding over towards me. He smirked towards some of his friends and my temper flared. Angela stepped aside, obviously believing Mike deserved it, as I bent down and picked up a clod of dirt. I prayed for my aim to go perfectly and launched it straight at the back of Mike's laughing head. He fell forward, landing on his face in the mud. Angela doubled over laughing, as did the coach and all the other students. _

_"I'm sorry Miss Swan but detention tomorrow at lunch. Newton, detention during lunch and after school for the next week." The Coach said, marking something off on his board. _

_"What?! She attacks me, and I get detention for a week because she doesn't know how to do anything!?" Mike spat, stomping towards the Coach. I bent down to catch some more dirt but Angela stopped me quickly._

_"Well, since she managed to get you face down in the mud with just some dirt, it seems she may know a little more then you believe. Now, do you want a referral?" The Coach asked, staring Mike down. The bell rang loudly for us to dress back into our regular clothes, Angela and I walked off, leaving Mike alone._

I looked down at my shoes and the clothes I wore, hoping that the mud wouldn't ruin anything. The pretty coat I had worn was left in my locker, safe from the muddy p.e. clothes in my backpack. I looked down at my shoes again, honestly not sure whether or not my shoes would be able to survive a washing. I wasn't paying attention and ran straight into a rockhard chest. I looked up to see Edward smirking down at me.

"Why is it, that I always run into your chest? Also, why is it that when I run into you, it always leaves me feeling like I've just smashed into a brick wall and survived?" I asked honestly, seeing the look of shock, bewilderment, and then humor cross his face.

"I work out a lot." He said, matter-of-factly.

"Yes, but working out doesn't leave you feeling like a flippin' walking statue." I said, unlocking my truck door.

"Okay...you've discovered the truth...I am a walking statue, hiding out in Forks, Washington." The serious look on his face made me crack up, leaving me leaning against the door to keep myself up.

"Oh...marble or granite?" I asked, looking up at his oh-so-serious expression.

"Granite." He finally gave in and started laughing, the sound so amazing to hear. "So, do you feel better now?" He asked, raising a perfectly formed eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's just, today has sort of been crappy. Well not today, but Gym class was crappy." I said, throwing my backpack into the truck as I sat in the driver's seat angled so I could sit facing him. Even with me sitting in the truck, he was still taller then me.

"What happened?" He asked, actually caring to know. Nobody had cared enough to ask what was wrong since my father had died.

"Mike Newton, tried to knock me out with a soccerball..." I was expecting him to begin laughing, but instead he ground his teeth, the sound hurting my ears. "So I threw a clod of dirt at him and knocked him facedown into the mud. Because of that I have detention tomorrow at lunch." I had been truly shocked, having never before gotten detention.

"How did Newton take being knocked down by a girl?" Edward asked, laughing over the fact that I had managed to knock down the jock, Mike Newton.

"In truth, he was pretty pissed. But I think it was moreover the fact that he was laughed at." Edward nodded slowly, understanding.

"Do you want me to stay with you during your detention?" Edward asked, his golden eyes dazzling me.

"You don't have to. I don't want you to miss lunch or something." He laughed at some meaning in my words, leaving me wondering over the beautiful smirk on his face.

"I'm on a...uh...special diet. It will be okay, besides you wouldn't want to be stuck with Newton would you? That's just asking to die of boredom." He whispered, breaking out laughing just as I did.

"Yes, that would be horrible." I kept laughing, looking over to see the rest of the Cullens waiting by Edward's silver volvo. "Your family probably wants to get home...so I'll stop holding up your time." I said, cranking the heat in the truck.

"It's alright." Edward said as he closed the door of my truck for me. I looked over again and saw Alice smiling widely at me.

"Oh, Edward? Could you tell Alice and Rosalie I said hi? And can you tell Alice thanks for the tip?" I asked, leaning out the windown towards him. Edward leaned in closer but stopped, taking a hasty step back, and nodded. "Bye, Edward." I called over, seeing him walk away.

"Bye, Bella." He said quickly, smirking over at me one last time. I watched them leave, and smiled in a daze the whole way home.

**(I wasn't sure whether I should end it here or not, so I kept writing.)**

I got home in a record amount of time, taking a quick shower and scraping off all the mud left over from earlier. After the shower I changed into a pair of sweats, eager to wear something comfortable. I ran downstairs quickly and threw my clothes from earier today and my p.e. clothes into the washer, plus the shoes. I heard the house phone ringing in the kitchen, sending me running downstairs. I picked it up quickly, stumbling into the counter.

"Hello?" I asked, slightly out of breath.

"Hi, Bella. It's Alice." She practically chirped into the phone, making me laugh.

"Hi, Alice. What do you need?" I asked, not exactly sure over why she would be calling.

"Uh, Bella? How are those shoes of yours from earlier?" She asked, sounding somewhat reluctant.

"I think the mud is coming out. Why?" I wasn't sure why she would be calling about shoes of all things...but apparently I didn't know Alice well enough to guess her true weakness.

"Could I bring you a few things just in case?" Alice asked, oh so sweetly.

"Well, if you want. But I really don't like people spending money on me..." I said, hoping she didn't go crazy or anything. She cut me off quickly before I could say what else I had been thinking of.

"Cool!! I'll be there in a few minutes." She hung up the phone quickly, obviously excited. I had barely hung up the phone when I heard a car roar into the driveway. I rushed forward and answered the door, seeing Alice standing there with several designer labeled shopping bags.

"Please tell me that those are all yours." I went over what such things could cost, practically passing out.

"No, they're yours silly! You can never have too much!" That seemed like a phrase she lived by as she pulled out everything from the bags. She brought out two pairs of very nice shoes, obviously expensive. She pulled out several pairs of jeans, a handful of colorful silk shirts, and a dark blue sweater.

"Alice...I thought you were only bringing shoes." I couldn't take all this, it was too much.

"And I did, I just never mentioned the rest." She smiled sweetly and ducked upstairs with the stuff, putting all of it away in a closet in my room.

"Alice, I can't take all this, I barely even know you." I was amazed by how nice she was, wondering how she could have possible gotten all this since school had ended.

"True...but we're going to become best friends." She smiled at me happily, seeing something that I couldn't.

"Alright, I'll take these but no more. These are all perfect enough." She smiled at me and began showing me which outfits could easily work together. After an hour of Alice drilling into me how to perfectly match shoes with a shirt, she finally left, leaving me to pass out on the couch in exhaustion.

**I hope you guys liked this chapter! I didn't want to make Rosalie mean, so I softened her towards Bella more. Please Review!!**


	6. Storm coming in

**I do not o****wn Twilight...**

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!!!!!!!!**

**Chapter 6**

I woke up the next morning, knowing something was off, something was going to change... I shook off the feeling quickly and changed into an outfit Alice had left out for me the other day before she had left. I tied on the new tennis shoes that worked perfectly with the simple jeans and beautiful black cashmere sweater. I walked out towards my truck, starting it up and heading towards school. The weather was eerie as I drove slowly towards school, the clouds above were the darkest I had ever seen them.

"Hey, Bella!" I heard Angela say, as I parked my truck. I stepped out of the warmth and into the freezing wind, wanting so badly to just go back home and sleep.

"Hi, Angela." I said, as she walked up quickly to me, shivering as much as I was.

"This weather is weird isn't it?"Angela asked, I nodded quickly. Although rain and clouds were the usual weather report for Forks, this was something else. "There's suppose to be a really bad storm later, my dad's at home right now getting our house ready." I frowned, knowing that I would probably have to do that too once I got home.

"Good thing I left a jacket here. I would have probably freezed on the way home..." I laughed, noticing Edward coming down the hall. I smiled over at him, waiting for him to look over at me. He turned away and kept walking, his eyes avoiding me completely. My smile slipped away as I continued walking with Angela, feeling like an idiot. I fought back tears the whole way to class, luckily Angela didn't comment on it. Somehow she had picked up on the fact that I didn't want to talk about it. I smiled at her sadly and walked into class, sitting in the same seat as the first day of school.

--

I looked over quickly at Alice, who hadn't spoken to me once since class had started. Her face was even more pale then usual, her eyes unfocused and drawn in.

"Alice?" I asked, quietly.

"Hmm?" Her eyes remained unfocused, her face still pinched and drawn.

"What do you see?" I asked, going on a hunch I had thought up the other day. She snapped to attention, and stared wide-eyed at me.

"I see the board, Bella." She gave a short laugh. "Good thing it's Friday..." She said, again smiling over at me.

"Mmm hmm." I nodded, deciding against bringing up the subject again. A loud peel of thunder and lightening lit up the class as the lights flickered, several of the girls around me squeeled and jumped. I heard the bell ring and jumped up from my seat, trying to get away but Alice caught up to me.

"Bella?" I turned towards Alice. She was still absolutely pale, she hugged me quickly, launching herself at me. "You'll be alright." She said, more to herself then to me. She pulled away abruptly and ran off in search of Jasper. I walked in silence to my next class, absolutely confused over what had just happened.

--

I hurried quickly to biology, not being able to grab anything to eat after the lunch detention I had gotten the other day in Gym. I sat down at the table, noticing that Edward wasn't there yet. I rested my head on the table as the lights kept flickering from the storm, I heard the chair beside me screech as it was pulled out.

"Bella?" Edward whispered to me. I swung my head up, feeling the pounding begin to start.

"Yes?" I was a little ticked still over his dismissal of me this morning, and the fact that he had ditched me at detention after saying he would be there.

"What are you thinking?" He seemed frustrated.

"That my head is pounding." I put my head back down on the cold table, sighing as the cool began to take effect.

"Oh..." He reached out one of his hands and pressed it softly to my cheek. My first reaction was to draw back from the cold, but it helped instantly to soothe my headache and comfort my frazzled emotions. I rested my much warmer hand against his ice cold one, causing him to yank his hand away. "Sorry...my hands are still a little cold from...being outside."

"Right..." I didn't believe him for an instant. I began to piece things in my head, noting the odd colors of all their eyes, Alice's frigid skin was the same as Edwards, and the weird way Alice acted sometimes, as if she knew what was going to happen. Even the way Edward seemed to know what a person was thinking was odd, although he never seemed to know what I thought.

"Bella--" The lights throughout the school shut off as he began to talk to me. I kept staring in his direction, although it was impossible for me to see him with so little light. The covers over the windows were swiped away by the teacher and I could see him far better now. He was as far away from me as possible, his golden eyes were frantic as he stared at me. He moved forward and began throwing all his stuff back into his backpack.

"Edward?" I didn't know what he was doing, whether he was just going to up and leave.

"You might want to pack up your things." He put his jacket back on and threw his backpack on his shoulder.

"Why?" The thunder from outside shook the entire school, lighting up the room with the lightening.

"They're going to let us out early." He seemed so confident as he stared down at me, I crossed my arms in front of me, staring at him.

"How do you know that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Because how are they going to keep us here with no bell schedule, no clocks, and no lights while the storm gets worse outside?" He asked, staring back at me, almost daring me to point out anything.

"Fine." I put my notebook in my backpack, pulling on my coat, which I had gotten from my locker during detention. I saw our teacher stand in front of the class, calling for us to pay attention to him...which was extremely hard for me at least with Edward standing so close to me now.

"Students, The principle and all of us teachers decided to let you all out before the storm gets worse. Class is out for the rest of the day, be careful and be safe getting home. Have a nice weekend also." The teacher said, holding up the flashlight in his hand. Edward turned towards me with a mocking smirk and raised an eyebrow.

"You know, I told you so is not very attractive." He laughed aloud as I began walking out of the classroom, trying to avoid the mob of students that would be coming from all the other classrooms.

"I wasn't going to say I told you so." His look of complete innocence didn't fool me at all. We walked gradually towards the parking lot, while all the other students ran as fast as possible to their cars, excited over the cancellation of the rest of the school day.

"Well, you had that look like you were going to say it." I shrugged, pulling out my truck keys as Alice came dancing over with Jasper. Jasper still looked like he was in pain. Alice looked over at Edward for an instant, turning away quickly to smile over at me.

"I have many looks." He seemed distracted, as if he was concentrating on something. Alice distracted me as she pulled her arm through mine, dragging me along as she skipped down the parking lot. Alice came to a sudden stop by my truck, which would have caused me to go flying forward, except Edward managed to catch my shoulders and keep me steady.

"Well...thanks for walking me to my truck." I still felt awkward around these utterly beautiful people...feeling so disdainfully average. I looked over to see Rosalie smile at me as Emmett threw an arm around her. I waved to Edward and Alice, watching as Edward silently walked towards his volvo. I jumped into my truck turning the key that started the booming of the engine. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw Alice stop skipping and whisper something urgently to Rosalie, Edward turning towards her suddenly. I pulled forward slowly, seeing that there was no car in front of where I was parked. I nudged the gas slightly, surprised when the roar of my engine died in a low groan.

"Bella? Are you alright?" I jumped, seeing Edward standing beside my rolled up window.

"Yeah...my truck died." I jumped down from the seat, unsure how I would be able to get it started before the rain began to fall.

"Do you mind if I take a look?" Rosalie asked from beside Edward. I shrugged and walked towards the front of the truck, pulling up the top.

"Alice, here are the keys to the volvo. Can you take Bella home while we stay here and fix her truck?" Edward asked Alice, who stood beside me. She nodded quickly and began to pull me backwards towards the volvo.

"Wait...how are you going to get back before it starts raining?" I asked Edward. Rosalie was tinkering around with the engine of the truck, completely at ease.

"Once your truck is fixed she'll follow behind me in her car while I drop off your truck." Edward said, nodding towards Rosalie's car.

"You might need the keys." I held them in my hand, wondering how he could have forgotten that he would need my keys to drive the truck.

"Oh." He leaned over me and easily took them, smiling smugly down at me. I fought the urge to stick my tongue out at him as I pulled my backpack out, seeing Edward move over towards Rosalie.

"Thank you." I felt kind of guilty, I hardly knew these people but they were willing to fix my truck for me. Alice dragged me along as I looked again at Edward.

"Bella, stop with the goo goo eyes!" Alice said, leaving me to blush crimson as Edward smiled at me. Once the doors were shut I glared at her, cooling my red cheeks.

"Aww, look how pink she is." The big one, Emmett said from the backseat.

"Oh, shut up." I said, turning a brighter shade of red.

"Hmm, feisty." Emmett laughed, as Alice hit the gas in the volvo.

"What about Jasper?" I asked, seeing one last glance of the three leaning over the engine in my truck.

"He's going to help them out." Alice whispered, again hiding something from me. I ignored it and looked out the window, watching the blur of green as the volvo sped towards my house. I didn't question Alice over how she knew the way to my house, chalking it up to the fact that Forks was a small town. I didn't notice the fact that we were at my house already, I just stared, open-mouthed, at Victoria's car in the driveway. I tried my hand at opening the door, but it wouldn't budge, staying locked even as I pulled.

"Alice, could you open the door? I really have to leave." I looked over at her glazed expression, startled. She looked terrified then suddenly confused, her golden eyes widening. I looked towards Emmett who was watching Alice closely. He looked over at me and got out of the car, unlocking and pulling, the still unresponsive, Alice out of the front seat. He jumped in the front seat and unlocked the doors, leaving me to jump out.

"Bella?" Alice's eyes had come back to life as she darted around the volvo towards me, in a matter of seconds.

"Alice?" It looked, for a second, as if she was on the verge of tears.

"Don't go in there...please? Stay here, we'll go to my house. Please, just don't go in there." She was frantic as she pulled me into another hug, her breathing rapid as she hugged me tighter then I thought anyone her size was capable of.

"Alice, let her go." Emmett looked worried, seeing my pained expression as she squeezed me tight. She finally stepped back, sending me an apologetic glance. I smiled, trying to reassure her as I stepped into my house. They finally sped off once I shut the door. I stepped back from the door, resting my head against the frigid cold of the door. I nearly screamed as a hand slammed less then an inch from my face. I looked over to see Victoria's sunglass covered eyes glaring at me.

"Where is your truck?" She spit out at me practically. I shuddered, remembering that this was how she always acted after my father had died.

"It broke down at school. My friends gave me a ride, while others stayed to fix it..." I would never want to mention Edward to her, knowing that she would never approve of me dating anyone.

"Call me next time...I do not want you hanging around those people." I ignored her, my jaw angling in a way to show how stubborn I could be. I would not let her dictate to me the way I would spend my time.

"I thought you were in Italy still." I spat out, my brown eyes glaring over at her.

"Do you want me to pull you out like before?" She glared through the thick black sunglasses, daring me to start something.

"No." I backed down, sudden intense hate filling me. I hated the idea of never seeing Edward again. Thinking of never seeing any of the Cullens again made my eyes burn.

"Go put your stuff in your room. There's stuff I need you to do in the garage." She stepped away from me, her hand running through her red hair.

"But there's a storm outside..." I hated going in the garage, it held all of my Father's stuff. Victoria had cleaned out the entire house after he had died, making me leave it all in the garage. Due to my intervention, I was actually allowed to keep a few pictures of my father and mother.

"Then you better hurry." She ground out through her teeth, making me scurry past her. A sudden crash of thunder sent me falling into the railing, I heard someone giggle behind me, but I ignored it and dumped my stuff off into my room. I came back down, seeing Jessica standing there, tapping a her boot. She was wearing the same thick sunglasses as Victoria, something I had never seen her wear before. She was incredibly pale, the same shade of ivory as Victoria.

"We need the stuff in the garage dumped so Lauren and I can park our new cars." I walked towards the seperate garage with her, as she practically glided through the garage door. "Just dump all this crap. We don't need it."

"This stuff belongs to my dad. I don't want to get rid of it. Just find somewhere else to park your cars." I had never been afraid to stand up to Jessica, but something about her now set me on edge.

"Get rid of all this crap..." She yelled at me, kicking over one of the boxes that held pictures. "Your dad was just some pathetic loser anyway." She grinned over at me, sending my temper sky high. I sent my fist flying into her nose, what I expected at that moment was the pain. What I didn't expect was to see Jessica standing there right after, with a huge smile on her face.

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!!**


	7. Explanation

**I do not own Twilight**

**Sorry about the last chapter being a semi-cliffy...**

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!!**

**Chapter 7**

My knuckles were throbbing horribly as I stood staring at Jessica's perfectly unmarked face. For a minute I questioned whether I had actually hit her at all.

"Nice try, Bella. Except it's going to take a lot more to hurt me." She grabbed a hold of a thick locke of my hair, yanking hard as she pulled my face towards hers. My eyes began to tear up as she pulled so hard on my scalp. Lightening flashed throughout the garage, sending me flying towards the door as she abruptly let go of my hair.

I ran towards the street, suddenly realizing that I had no truck in which to take me to the hospital. I tried calming down as I began the walk to the Forks Hospital, I clutched my knuckles close not wanting to look down to see whether or not they were actually broken. I heard another crash of thunder, sending me faster down the road. I stopped suddenly, debating whether to just turn back, and beg Victoria for a ride to the hospital...or I could keep going, Jessica and the rest of them be damned. I kept walking, trying to find my way to the hospital. I had been there numerous times, but I had always gotten there by driving...not walking! I huddled into my jacket as it began to pour, my legs gave out sending me onto the cement.

I was so busy sitting there, practically wallowing in self-pity, that I didn't even hear the familiar rumble of my truck. My skin was so cold from the icy rain and wind that I didn't even notice the difference in temperature as Edward placed his hand against my cheek. He was bent down on one knee, his golden eyes staring into my brown ones.

"What happened, Bella?" His thumb rubbing back and forth over my frozen cheek, caused my scrambled thoughts to go completely haywire.

"I lost my temper and punched my step sister. The hit broke my hand but did nothing to her, so I left and tried walking to the hospital but my legs gave out and it started raining. I've been sitting here for ten minutes, so I'm almost completely frozen." I laughed a little at my predicament, deciding it had "Bella" written all over it.

"May I see your hand?" Edward asked so politely as his golden eyes burned into mine. I couldn't feel it anymore from the cold, I placed it softly in his outstretched palm.

"How is it?" I asked, I couldn't look. I was still a chicken over the sight of blood and broken bones.

"Uh...it's definately broken, I'll take you to the hospital." He managed to say it all without breathing...or, at least, I thought he did. "Can you walk?"

"Yeah." I stood up and pulled myself into my truck, all one-handed. I looked over at him quickly, noticing how he wasn't shivering from the cold like I was. "Aren't you cold?"

"I'm always cold." He said with a smirk as he started the truck.

"I've noticed." I whispered, noticing the way his smirk suddenly disappeared. He looked straight ahead, his hands gripping the steering wheel so hard I thought it would snap.

"How's the hand?" Edward asked, not looking over at me.

"I'm starting to feel it again." I said, looking over at his beautiful face.

"Is that good or bad?" He asked, finally looking over at me.

"It's painful...but it's not the worst I've had." I shrugged nonchalantly, seeing Edward raise an eyebrow at me.

"Fall down a lot?" The smile returned to his face and I couldn't help but be dazzled by him.

"That's putting it lightly..." I said, rolling my eyes as I thought of some of the tumbles I had taken over the years.

"Well...we're finally here." He laughed, sounding exasperated. "I'm amazed we were able to make it at all with how slow this thing is."

"Hey! No picking on my truck!" I laughed, glad that he had parked close so I wouldn't get completely drenched when I ran from the truck to the front entrance.

"Hold on a second." Edward said before ducking out of the front seat and appearing next to my window. He helped me out, covering me from the rain as we ran towards the hospital entrance. I sat over in the waiting room, still soaked through from earlier. Edward walked over and said a few words to the gawking nurse, staring wide-eyed at him as she dialed on the phone. He walked back over towards me and sat down, going through the text messages on his phone.

"Edward, you don't have to stay here and babysit me. You can leave if you're bored." In all truth, I actually didn't want him to leave, but it wasn't up to me...he wasn't my boyfriend or anything. I blushed at the thought, hating my pinkening cheeks.

"What are you thinking?" He asked, smirking at me.

"Nothing!" I so badly wanted to disappear into myself. The word came out as a semi-shriek, causing several people to turn in our direction.

"In response to what you said earlier, I'm not bored, it's quite interesting being stuck here with you." He laughed, causing several female nurses to stare and blink their lashes at him. "I was texting Alice because she was worried about you."

"Yeah, she didn't want me to go inside when she dropped me off at home. I probably should have listened to her." I said, shivering as the cold came back.

"Alice is coming, she's going to bring you clothes." He said, looking over at me shivering. "Here's my dad."

"_That's_ your dad?" I asked, amazed. The man had to be in his twenties, blonde hair and the same golden eyes as Edward and Alice. He looked like a golden god just like Edward. I remembered the story Angela told me of how the Cullens were all adopted by Carlisle and Esme Cullen.

"Carlisle, this is Bella. Bella, this is Carlisle." Edward introduced us, as Carlisle smiled at me.

"So this is Bella." He smiled towards Edward, who coughed lightly. "Follow me and I'll find you some scrubs to wear for the time being. We don't want you catching a cold from the rain." Carlisle stepped into one of the rooms, pulling out a simple set of the hospital scrubs. "Edward and I will be gone for a bit, you can change in here."

"Thank you." I said quickly, before they both left the room.

--

"Bella? Are you finished?" Edward asked through the door, knocking lightly. I threw my clothes in a bag quickly and opened the door with my good hand. I pulled my hair up with one hand into a messy bun.

"I'm done." Carlisle and Edward were standing by the door, Edward holding the black leather coat he was wearing earlier.

"Bella, if you just sit there, I'll take a look at your hand." Carlisle indicated to the simple patient bed behind me, while he walked over and took out a couple things. I sat, looking over at Edward, who just stood there looking over at me. "So, Bella, what happened to your hand?" He held the chart in his hand, reading a couple of the things printed on the paperwork.

"I punched my step-sister." It was embarrasing, the fact that I had lost my temper had landed me in the hospital.

"Then you must have a pretty strong punch..." He said, scribbling down some stuff.

"Not really, I hit her, but nothing happened. She pretty much smiled the entire time, no effect at all." I shook my head, noticing the sudden look Carlisle sent Edward.

"What else happened?" Carlisle asked, looking me straight in the eye.

"It's nothing, but she just yanked my hair really hard. I was amazed that I made it out with any hair left." I rubbed the spot on my head, wincing when I touched the still painful part of my scalp. Edward let out a hiss, causing Carlisle to look at him suddenly.

"Edward, do you need to leave?" Carlisle asked, but I wasn't sure what he was truly asking. To me it sounded as if he was implying something else, but that might have just been my mind playing tricks on me.

"I'm fine, Carlisle." Edward said, taking a seat in one of the chairs beside the patients bed I was sitting on.

"Okay Miss Swan, let's take a look at that hand." Carlisle said, placing the chart off to the side. He took my hand softly and began probing the knuckles, causing me to flinch suddenly.

"Just call me Bella." I said, gritting my teeth so I could finally look at my hand.

"Well Bella, I need to reset the bones in your hand. You broke one of your knuckles and several of the smaller bones in your hand. They're not bad breaks, and with a small cast they'll heal quickly." Carlisle smiled at me then turned to Edward. "Edward, maybe you should go find Alice."

"Okay...I'll be right back, Bella." Edward smiled and ducked through the door, leaving the leather jacket beside me.

"Now, before I set your hand I'm going to give you a small shot of pain killers." I didn't look as he gave me the shot, feeling a bit like a crybaby. I doubted whether I would ever be able to look at needles, broken bones, or even blood without wanting to pass out. "While those take effect, I'm going to check your head. Just to make sure it's okay." His reassuring smile was infectious, causing me to smile back at him. He probed the spot on my head, checking for any serious injures.

"Well, your head will be bruised for a bit. But you didn't lose any hair, it's just going to be tender for the next week or so." I nodded slowly along with what he said, feeling the slight pain on my head. "Now I'll take care of that hand."

--

"There you go, Bella. All done." Carlisle smiled at me as he finished wrapping my hand in the small black cast. I stood up, clutching my hand close, and left the room.

"Bella!" Alice yelled from down the hall, skipping towards me with a huge pink bag in her hand. "These are for you." She smiled widely, leaving me to roll my eyes at her.

"Alice, I'm perfectly fine. You didn't need to buy me anything." The scrubs were pretty comfortable, although not as stylish as Alice may have wanted.

"Anything for Alice is an excuse for her to go shopping." Edward and Carlisle laughed, Edward ignoring the irritated look Alice gave him.

"You went shopping in this storm?!" I stared wide-eyed at her, amazed over how calm she was, still trying to stick the bag in my hand.

"Pfft...it's not even that bad." She rolled her eyes at me in annoyance, completely uncaring of the crazy winds and pouring rain outside.

"You're so weird!" I laughed, finally taking the bag and skulking back into the room to change again. I pulled on the clothes quickly, amazed over how perfectly they fit. The silk ice teal colored shirt was cut perfectly, a black silk bow tieing around the waist. The tight black skinny jeans were soft, feeling like a second skin. They blended perfectly into the faded black leather boots. The boots were my favorite, although I usually ran from the sight of heels, these were perfect. The heels were small and thick, easy to walk on. I stepped out of the room, looking over at Alice.

"You forgot a jacket, Alice." I said, the small sleeves of the shirt would be impossible to protect me from the cold outside.

"Here, take this." Edward said, handing over his leather jacket to me. I slipped it on, amazed over how big it was on me.

"Thank you." I whispered, smiling up at him. Edward nodded and walked over to talk to Carlisle, I watched their conversation as Alice came over and began braiding my still wet hair. They were arguing, Edward was absolutely furious about something Carlisle was saying. Carlisle finally walked over, leaving Edward where they had been. Edward was frowning deeply, upset over something.

"Bella?" I looked up at Carlisle, whatever Alice was doing to my hair was putting me to sleep.

"Yes?" I asked, fighting to keep my eyes open.

"We need you to come home with us. We have things we need explained." Carlisle said.

"Am I in trouble?" I asked sheepishly, not sure what was wrong.

"No," He smiled at me, turning towards Alice. "Alice as soon as your done we need to go." Alice nodded and continued with my hair. Finally everything combined, the pain medication, the stress, and I passed out in the seat. I was jumbled softly as someone wrapped cold arms around me and picked me up, carrying me as I fell back asleep.

--

I was waking up slowly, not really wanting to lose the peaceful calm that had overcome me.

"How is Jasper going to handle it Alice?" Edward asked from beside me. I was curled against the soft leather seats...definately not the seats of my truck.

"He's been perfectly controlled lately Edward." Alice seemed to hiss, obviously hating whenever someone questioned the integrity of Jasper. "How are you going to handle her Edward?" Alice asked.

"After earlier today, I've been able to control my urges a lot better. It still burns...but I can handle it." Edward answered, sounding completely honest. I had no idea what they were talking about, I was about to ask, but the car came to a stop. In an instant Edward was no longer beside me, he was standing beside my now opened door. "Bella?" He asked softly, unsure of whether I was awake or not. I opened my eyes slowly, and Edward helped me out of the car. I kept my arm tucked in close, as I stared around the massive garage. All the beautiful cars around me left me stunned, I kept my mouth closed and I followed Edward and Alice into the house. Well some would call it a house...I was calling it a mansion! The entire back wall was glass, leaving the entire house open. I stood back and merely marveled over how big everything was, Edward laughed and pulled me along behind him.

"You'll get used to it." He whispered, still laughing over my expression.

"Will I?" I had never seen anything like this...it was absolutely beautiful in design.

"I did." He said, finally able to stop laughing.

"Well, that's you!" I laughed, seeing him smile and shrug. We finally stopped at a perfectly set table, the room was lit so we could easily see the storm outside. I saw the lightening striking in the distance.

"Just sit here, Bella." Edward pulled out a chair for me, tucking it in after I sat. Alice sat beside me, Jasper sitting calmly on the her other side. Edward sat in the seat across from mine, smiling over at me. Obviously he had gotten used to what he was so upset about earlier.

"Alice? Is my truck still at the hospital?" I asked, looking between both Edward and Alice. I had slept through us leaving, unable to remember fully how we had left the hospital.

"Carlisle drove it here. He's upstairs at the moment." Alice said. The idea of the professional Carlisle driving my truck left me embarressed. My truck was a complete mess, I hope that didn't leave a bad impression on Carlisle. I began panicking as I thought of how messy my truck had been when we had finally reached the hospital.

"There's nothing to be embarressed about." Jasper said from beside Alice. His voice came out fluidly, suddenly I began to feel calm, the panic easing. I watched as Rosalie and Emmett took their seats beside Edward. Rosalie smiled over at me, Emmett throwing an arm around her shoulders. Carlisle came walking into the dining room, walking beside him was Snow White herself. Her carmel colored hair flowed beautiful, perfectly accenting her golden eyes. I looked around, noticing their eyes were all the same golden color.

"Bella I'm not sure you whether or not you know, but this is my mother Esme." Edward said, smiling at Esme who sat at one head of the table while Carlisle sat at the other. Esme smiled beautifully at me. She sent a smug look towards Edward, causing him to stick his tongue out at her. I smiled, seeing how they were acting towards each other.

"Bella, we just have some questions about your family." Esme said softly, her voice absolutely beautiful.

"We'll explain everything about ourselves afterwards." Carlisle said, I nodded slowly, curious. "First off, how old were you when your father married Victoria?"

"I was nine. He said he did it so I could have a mother." I whispered, remembering back to when my father had tried to explain Victoria to me.

"And your step-sisters? Were they your age when they arrived?" Carlisle asked.

"They were the same age as me. The only thing I really noticed about them was how different they were from Victoria." I said, remembering back to the day I had met my worst nightmares.

"How so?" Esme asked from beside me.

"Lauren had very blonde hair, Jessica had dark hair. They looked nothing at all like Victoria with her red hair. Nothing about them matched at all, not their voices, not their eyes, nothing." I said, amazed that I had noticed these things yet never mentioned them.

"How would you explain Victoria's appearance?" Edward asked from across the table, his brows puckered.

"She always wore sunglasses, her skin was pale and cold. Like yours..." I whispered, staring straight into Edward's golden eyes. Everything clicked, the idea that I had always joked about when I was little, the idea my dad has said was ridiculous. "Right before my dad died I told him that I believed that Victoria was a vampire. He yelled at me and told me I needed to get my head out of the books."

"How did you come by these assumptions?" Carlisle asked.

"Books...my dad was right on the money when he yelled at me. He knew me too well, but what sparked it was when I saw the true color of Victoria's eyes. She always had sunglasses or possibly contacts in her eyes, but I caught her once, she hissed at me. I had nightmares for weeks about her blood red eyes." I whispered, shuddering as I remembered.

"When were you pulled out of school?" Alice asked, reminding me that she had been there

"Freshmen year. Shortly after you moved here. Now that I think about it, she didn't want me going to school when she could be discovered." I was beginning to hate remembering these things.

"When did they leave and where did they go?" Carlisle asked.

"They left shortly after they pulled me out of school. They went to some place in Italy. They've been gone for two years, that's why I was so shocked to see that they were back." I shrugged and saw Edward stiffen.

"What happened exactly when you got home? Are Jessica and Lauren different also?" Edward asked.

"Victoria confronted me when I stepped through the door. She slammed a hand less then an inch from my face, she yelled at me for being with Alice and Emmett. She told me she didn't want me hanging around, in her words, "Those People." I didn't see Lauren but Jessica is definately different. Ever since I first met her, I've never seen her wear sunglasses but suddenly she was wearing the same thick black ones as Victoria. She looked different, her hair was prettier, her skin paler, and freezing. Plus the whole thing when I hit her, I got hurt and she kept smiling." I showed my cast quickly.

"You punched a vampire?" Emmett laughed, breaking the tense atmosphere, I nodded. "Way to go human!" I laughed, but stopped short as soon as I saw the look Edward sent Emmett.

"Is there anything else?" I asked, noting how Emmett was still laughing.

"Nope. We'll explain what we are if you want to know." Carlisle said, pausing only as he saw me nod my head sharply. I was practically dying to know. "You were right, Victoria is a vampire just like us. " Edward watched my reaction closely, frowning when he saw that I didn't freak out when Carlisle spoke.

"Do you drink human blood?" I asked, wondering how their eyes could be different.

"No, we're vegetarians, we only drink from animals." Edward said, still watching my reaction.

"Then what is Victoria?" I asked.

"She drinks human blood, which is why her eyes are red. Our eyes lighten to gold when we feed, they're black when we're hungry." Alice said, I turned towards Edward.

"That's why your eyes were black in the parking lot when I first met you." I said to Edward, who looked rather sheepish. "Was that why you were so grumpy too?" I asked, smiling over at him. He nodded, laughing as he remembered.

"I'll explain to you later Bella." Edward said, smiling at me. I looked over at Alice, finally asking what I had almost asked earlier.

"Can you see the future, Alice?" I asked, turning towards her, she smiled and nodded.

"You scared me with how perceptive you were this morning. I was afraid that you had finally figured me out." She said, laughing.

"Yeah, but you sort of fooled me when you said that you only saw the board." I laughed along with her, and then thought back to a minute ago. "Can Jasper control emotions?" They all turned towards me.

"Wow, Edward she really is perceptive." Esme said from beside me.

"Yes, I can control emotions. That's how I calmed down your panic earlier." Jasper said, talking for the first time since he calmed me down. My stomach growled loudly, reminding me that I hadn't eaten all day. I blushed crimson and looked around to see Emmett hiding a grin.

"Edward, show Bella to your room. Bella we can keep you safe here. Esme and Alice have already ordered you something to eat." Carlisle said as Edward stood up and helped me out of the chair.

"I can't stay here, Victoria will kill me." I didn't know how Victoria would act. I knew, at least, that she would be furious.

"Bella, this place is like a fort. You're perfectly safe here." Edward said, stroking my arm lightly. I lost all train of thought, but one thing I did notice was the smile spread across Esme's face as she saw Edward's hand caress my arm. "My room's this way." Edward said as he guided me towards the stairs.

**Please Review!!! I worked my butt off on this chapter trying to make it long!!! **

**R-E-V-I-E-W...it's the little button down there, press and leave a comment! :-)**

(Ugh, I completely forgot to mention it...I posted pics of Edwards jacket and Bella's outfit on my profile!)


	8. Hear Me!

**I do not own Twilight...**

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!**

**Chapter 8**

My stomach kept growling, helping me keep a permanent blush on my cheeks.

"That color is absolutely beautiful." Edward laughed as we walked towards the stairs. My blush deepened, causing Edward to burst out laughing.

"Are you going to tell me what you can do?" I asked, feeling my cheeks cool as we began to move up the stairs.

"I can read minds." He said rather simply, although I could detect a bit of bitterness.

"Really?" I asked once we reached the top of the stairs. "What am I thinking?" Edward spun around suddenly, causing me to stumble backwards, nearly falling down the stairs.

"Wow, you are a klutz aren't you?" Edward laughed, pulling me safely away from the stairs.

"I warned you before." I laughed, my heart still pounding from nearly falling. "So...what am I thinking?"

"I can't read your thoughts." Edward said, frowning heavily.

"Is there something wrong with me?" I asked, outraged, wondering what else about me could possibly be different. Edward laughed.

"You see, I tell you I can read minds, and you think there's something wrong with you?" He was laughing like crazy now, causing me to join in.

"Okay, I see your point...but how come it wouldn't work?" I really wanted to know what glitch there could be that kept Edward from knowing my mind.

"Honestly? The only thing I would venture to guess is that you're on a different wavelength from me." Edward said, grabbing my good hand and tugging me down the hall. That made sense to me, I could at least understand why he was always wondering what I was thinking. I stepped through the room at the end of the hall, amazed. The room was large, the whole back wall glass. From their I could see the lightening and rain perfectly. The large couch off to the side looked comfortable. The amazing stereo system he had along with the wall of cd's left me terrified to touch anything.

"Sorry there isn't a bed...but the couch is huge, and pretty comfy. I'll go grab some blankets and stuff." Edward said, actually looking uncomfortable.

"Edward, wait." He stopped on the verge of the door, looking back at me. "Where are you going to sleep?" I asked, not wanting to kick him out of his room or anything.

"We don't sleep." He said, leaving my mouth to snap open.

"Ever?" I couldn't imagine not sleeping...it had to have been boring. He nodded, now it made sense why he had the bruises under his eyes, of course they were far lighter now. "What do you do in the meantime?"

"We all do our own things...Carlisle has medicine, Alice has shopping, Esme has architecture..." He shrugged, hoping that I wouldn't notice how he had left himself out.

"And you have music?" I asked, seeing him smile and nod. My stomach chose, at that moment, to growl yet again.

"Your foods here and I have to go get the blankets and stuff." Edward said, grabbing my hand and pulling me towards the door.

"Wait, how old are you?" I asked, wanting to know a lot more about him.

"Seventeen." He said, turning towards me in the hall. He was really close, practically within inches of me.

"How long have you been seventeen?" I asked, refusing to let go of the subject.

"A while..." He laughed down at me, his golden eyes glowing. "Come on, we have to go find Alice. She's been yelling at me to bring you downstairs." I raised an eyebrow at him but he merely placed a finger to his temple.

"Oh," I said, feeling slightly stupid. Edward smiled one last time and pulled me towards the stairs.

--

"Bella?" Edward whispered to me, gently nudging me as I lay on the huge armchair in the living room. I must have fallen asleep after eating dinner. Alice was off to one side, sketching something, Edward was looking down at me still trying to wake me up fully. I had fallen asleep on the armchair midway through a movie Emmett had turned on. Emmett and Rosalie were sitting together on the couch, watching an all-new movie, Esme and Carlisle must have left while I was sleeping.

"Edward, you might as well just carry her upstairs. She won't be fully awake for a few more minutes." Alice said, standing up and disappearing upstairs.

"Come on Bella, I'll take you upstairs." Edward said, taking the jumble of words that came out of my mouth as an affirmative, picking me up softly from the chair.

"Edward, I'm too heavy for you." I murmured, trying to get down.

"Oh, really?" Edward asked, laughing as he dropped one arm away, holding me perfectly at ease in one arm. I squeaked embarrassingly, throwing my arms around his neck in what would have been a chokehold on a human. I was easily getting used to Edward being a vampire, from the beginning I had thought Edward was something beyond human. Of course, I had never gotten the idea that he was a vampire, I had merely thought he was a god or something along those lines. My feet hit the ground suddenly, but I was too busy smelling Edward's scent. He smelled absolutely amazing, setting my head spinning. I finally looked up to see Edward staring down at me intently, his eyes burning.

"You'll be the death of me." Edward said after setting me aside. "You're far too tempting to be so close." He said, taking a couple steps away from me.

"How so?" I asked, taking a large step forward. He sent me an exasperated glare and took a larger step away.

"Bella, it's dangerous." Edward said, keeping me rooted in place with his stare. "Your blood is like heroin for me...it's very hard controlling myself." That made sense, but I couldn't stop myself from taking several steps closer to him. He didn't back up anymore, he just stood there staring over at me.

"How do I smell?" I asked, not moving forward anymore.

"Mouthwatering." He simply stated, I raised an eyebrow at him. "You smell like...gah, how do I put it? You smell like lavender...or freesia." He took a step forward, inhaling deeply.

"I smell like flowers?" I asked, remembering when I was really little and my mother had kept loads of flowers in our house. My father had never objected, loving the smell of the lavender and the freesia, mixed with the various types of roses my mother adored.

"I'm getting a lot better at controlling myself ever since I first met you." Edward said, stepping closer still. "I was so rude to you the first day I met you because you were terrifying...all Carlisle had taught me over the years suddenly went out the window. All I cared about was your blood, the taste, the smell...I'm so sorry for that." I remembered the first day I had met him and it all clicked perfectly into place.

"But-" I wanted to know so much more but Edward cut me off as he looked anxiously towards the door.

"Bella, I will explain everything about myself tomorrow. But Alice is about to spring through that door any second and steal you away." Edward said, just before Alice danced through his bedroom door.

"Time for bed!" Alice chirped, pulling me out the bedroom. Edward followed behind steadily, I looked towards him helplessly mouthing the words 'help me.'

"Don't even think about it Edward Cullen." Alice warned, stealing a glance at him. Edward looked at me sheepishly and made the shape of a heart with his hands, smiling as he looked towards me. I frowned jokingly, making the same heart shape, breaking it down the middle. Edward let out a shocked gasp, trying to keep his laughter at bay. I stuck my tongue out at him, watching and laughing as he did the same thing. Alice laughed, slamming the door in Edward's stunned face.

"Alice, that was uncalled for." I said, still laughing over his expression. I heard Edward walk off, wishing Alice hadn't made him leave.

"His broken heart will mend." Alice laughed, obviously liking the way Edward and I acted towards each other. She tossed some folded clothes at me. "Put those on, then I'll fix up your hair so it can be wavy tomorrow." Alice said, excited over the notion. Dear God...I was in Alice's heaven, and my hell!!

--

I was semi-hiding in Edward's bathroom when he finally walked into his bedroom.

"Bella?" Edward asked, I peaked my head around the door quickly, thankful to see him.

"Do you have a sweater or something I could wear?" I asked, embarrassed over how much the pajamas Alice had given me were showing. The black shorts showed almost all of my legs, and the black shirt showed a lot of my stomach, leaving me to cower in a bathroom waiting for Edward to help me out.

"Here." Edward said, laughing as he handed me a sweater. He covered his eyes, causing me to laugh. I slipped the sweater on over, happy because it went nearly to my knees. I finally left the bathroom, wondering how long it would take for Edward to finally uncover his eyes.

"Don't worry, Edward. You can uncover your innocent virgin eyes. The tiny human won't harm your morals!" Emmett laughed as he walked in quickly. Edward spun around and glared at him, leaving me to blush several shades of red. Rosalie reached in and yanked Emmett out.

"Don't mind the idiot." She said, pulling Emmett out of the room. I was slowly turning back to my normal pale skin color, the red dimming.

"That was...embarrassing." I whispered.

"That's Emmett...he likes to pick on me about those things." Edward said, smiling slightly. "Your hair is very beautiful."

"Oh, it's what's left as proof of Alice's torture tactics." I laughed, actually liking the way Alice had braided my hair in three sections then braided those sections to form one dark braid. "Thank you for letting me borrow the sweater."

"The color goes well with your skin." Edward said, I looked down at the soft blue cashmere sweater, wondering how expensive it probably was. "You look tired, so here are some more blankets and pillows...and if you need me, I'll be off killing Emmett." He smiled cheerfully, causing me to double over in laughter. Edward left quickly, quietly closing the door as he left. I turned the lights off after I readied the couch, and curled up under a blanket, drifting off into sleep as the rain began again.

--

The rain was falling softly in the backround as I walked through the halls. The small halls of my home were easy to recognize, photographs littering the walls of me ever since I was a baby.

"Edward?" I called out, not exactly sure what time it was. I heard soft music coming from the front room, sending me running forward. I was four again, wearing a yellow sundress that my mother had adored. Claire De Lune was playing softly through a small player, all the furniture had been pushed aside so there was now a small dancefloor. My mother and father were dancing together in the center, smiling blissfully at each other.

"Bella?" I looked over to see Edward standing there, his bronze hair as messy as I remember. I looked up at his beautiful face, turning suddenly from him to look towards my mother. She began to fade away, blood seeping from a wound on her neck.

"Edward?" I asked, my voice higher from being a child.

"Yes?" He asked, looking down towards me.

"Don't let her go." I felt like sobbing, but I couldn't get my lungs to work properly.

"I'm sorry, Bella." Edward said, holding my hand as he stood so beautifully in the black suit. I was five, standing there in a black satin dress the huge black bow in my hair arranged by my father. Charlie stood at my other side, holding my small hand within his own.

"I'm sorry, Bells." He whispered, sounding so forlorn as they lowered my mother's coffin into the ground. The beautiful roses on her casket had been arranged by my father, adding in lavender and freesia. The rain began pouring as Victoria walked up, sliding her arms around my rapidly fading father.

"Bella?" Edward asked. I was older now, in my preteens, wearing yet another black dress, I watched as they lowered my father's coffin into the grave beside my mother.

"You'll leave too." I whispered, wanting to badly to just give up and sob.

"I care about you too much." He said, looking into my eyes. I was seventeen again, standing there in a black gown, watching as Jessica and Lauren slithered their way up to wrap their arms around Edward.

"No!" I screamed, throwing myself at him. "Not you...not you too." I was sobbing against him, slamming into the ground as he disappeared also. I curled up, sobbing finally. Victoria, Jessica, and Lauren converged on me. Silently taunting as they circled around me, their vibrant crimson eyes still thirsty. I jumped up, running as fast as possible in the heavy gown.

I ran, ran constantly towards the crowd.

"Bella!" Edward yelled from the crowd.

"Edward!" I yelled back, wanting so badly to reach him. My mother stood beside him, smiling so beautifully at me, her yellow dress so bright in the bleak crowd.

"Please." The tears wouldn't stop as I continued, pushing through everything. She smiled so beautifully at me, letting herself be swept away into the dull crowd.

"No!!" This wasn't fair! My father stood next to Edward now, dressed in the suit from my mother's funeral.

"I'm sorry, Bells." He whispered yet again, swept into the crowd the same as my mother. I ran like a maniac, refusing to lose Edward also.

"Don't go, Edward!!" I screamed, almost there. His eyes were tortured as he looked at my tear streaked face.

"Bella!!" He screamed, opening his arms in the crowd. I ran straight into his arms, slamming into the cement sidewalk that the crowd walked on. I began screaming, laying there, bloodied and broken, as the crowd swept me away also.

**Sorry that this Chapter was shorter...Please Review!!!! I seriously need those who are reading to R-E-V-I-E-W!!**

**(Also, I added a lot of quotes from the book into this chapter!)**


	9. Weekend at the Cullens

**I do not own Twilight…**

**If it helps at all, I was listening to the song Hear Me by Kelly Clarkson when I wrote the nightmare scene. If you listen to it, you can kind of tell when the song inspired me in the writing, a Twilight video for it is on my profile...I love you all for all the reviews you guys gave me!! I was so excited when I read them!**

**Chapter 9**

**(Edward Point of View)**

"Aww! You're just so cute!" Alice laughed, messing up my hair with her hand.

"Knock it off, Alice." I warned, seeing Jasper shrug his shoulders at me in apology.

"Alice, have you seen anything about Victoria?" Jasper intervened.

"Yes. They all left to go hunting earlier this evening." Alice said, plopping down on the couch beside me. She looked over at me as I stiffened.

"Are they hunting in town?" I looked at her steadily.

"No...they're in Seattle. They won't be back till Sunday morning." Alice said, watching as I calmed somewhat. If they had been hunting in town, we could have been outted for being vampires. That was one thing we absolutely didn't need.

"Where's Emmett?" Jasper asked from where he was lounging.

"Nursing his wounds." I laughed, glad that I had gotten Emmett back for what he had said to me in front of Bella. That was absolutely humiliating!

"No!!" Bella screamed from upstairs, causing us all to jump to our feet. I looked over at Alice, seeing her confusion. I ran to my room, making it there in less then a second.

"Don't go, Edward!!" Bella screamed again, jerking around on the couch. I ran to her, her sobbing was breaking my heart. She kept sobbing, moving around so much in her sleep.

"Bella!!" I yelled, catching her as she jumped up, slamming into my chest. It hadn't hurt me at all but it was bound to leave bruises on her.

--

**(Bella Point of View)**

"Bella." Edward whispered, managing to get me to stop screaming. I couldn't stop crying though, it seemed as if I would never be able to stop.

"It's alright." He whispered, rubbing my back softly. The tears eventually began to lessen, but I just stayed there, leaning against Edward heavily. After everything, I was completely exhausted. "What happened?"

"Just a nightmare." I whispered, shuddering. Edward held my chin, forcing me to look at him.

"Bella...what happened? That was far more then just a simple nightmare." Edward said, his eyes worried for me.

"It's all my fault." I whispered, trying to bury my face in his shoulder, but his hold on my chin kept me from moving.

"What is?" He asked.

"The deaths of my parents." I whispered, the cold coming off his skin comforting me.

"Bella." He said, sounding extremely frustrated. "How could you think that?"

"Because they were the two people I cared for the most in this world...and I ended up losing them." I couldn't look at him.

"Bella, your parents loved you very much. I know it's not fair, but whatever happened is not your fault." I was amazed over how earnest Edward sounded.

"You'll leave me also." I whispered, finally looking up at him. I probably looked absolutely terrible, my eyes felt red and puffy from the tears earlier and my throat was hurting from the screaming before.

"I don't have the strength to stay away from you, let alone leave you." Edward said, resting a palm on my cheek. The small smile on his face sent my heart into overdrive. "Love, you look absolutely exhausted. Stay here and I'll help you fall asleep." He began humming something as I curled up on my side next to him. Edward lay back down where I was curled up, actually wrapping a cold arm around my waist.

"Edward?" Everything clicked so suddenly in my head, the whole reason why I cared so much about Edward disappearing or leaving. I was absolutely in love with Edward Cullen.

"Yes?" He asked, breathing slightly into my hair.

"Thank you...for everything." I whispered, burying my face in his rock hard shoulder.

"No problem." He said, beginning to hum the same song as before. I drifted off quickly, feeling completely at ease against him.

--

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty." Alice said, messing with the blanket I was wrapped in.

"Go away." I laughed, trying to hide my head under a pillow.

"Nope, we have to get you ready for today." Alice sang, pulling me off the couch.

"Fine! I'll get up!" I couldn't stop laughing, I jumped up from the couch and ran to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Alice was dancing outside the bathroom, annoyed with how long I was taking. I finished quickly, finally leaving the safety of the bathroom. "Where's Edward?" I asked as she dragged me towards her bedroom.

"He's downstairs helping Esme with something." She said, throwing clothes my way. I put the clothes on quickly, liking the black lace shirt and black and pants Alice had given me.

"Okay, now we just need to fix your hair and makeup!" She said, sounding as if she was in her own little paradise.

"Alice!" I just wanted to go downstairs and see Edward but Alice wouldn't budge. "Fine." I sat down in one of the chairs, pouting. Luckily she barely did anything with my hair, just unbraided it and brushed it, the dark waves were pretty once she was done.

"Stop fidgeting, Bella. I'm almost done!" She laughed, finishing up the last bits of mascara. The makeup Alice had done was simple, just eyeshadow, mascara, and eyeliner. "Okay, you're free." She giggled moving out of the way as I ran out of the door. The flats that she had given me were comfortable, easy to walk in. I half-ran down the stairs, catching my foot on the fifth step I went sprawling forward.

"Bella." Edward laughed, his cold arms keeping me from slamming into the hard floor. "You seriously need a warning label." He cracked up, smiling beautifully at me.

"Hey!" I laughed, trying to point a finger at him but my arms were slightly pinned. "I already warned you how much of a klutz I am." I didn't protest when he kept his arms around me, half carrying me the rest of the way down the stairs. When he did finally drop his arms from around me I couldn't help but frown.

"What?" He asked, raising an eyebrow over my frown.

"Nevermind." I smiled, my color getting brighter.

"That is so frustrating." He said, groaning.

"What?" I asked.

"Not being able to hear you." He looked at me, his eyes darker then the day before.

"Oh...well now you know what I have to deal with on a daily basis." I laughed, not sure whether I actually wanted him to know some of the things I thought up.

"Well...come on. Esme and I made you breakfast." I raised an eyebrow at him, walking with him as he pulled me into the kitchen.

"Hi, Esme." I said, smiling over at her.

"Hello, Bella." Her entire face brightened as she looked over at us. She sent Edward another smile, glancing at the my hand that Edward was holding.

"We thought you would be hungry...but we didn't know exactly what to make." Edward said, shrugging his shoulders.

"So we found this delightful website that had so many interesting recipes...and we just chose what sounded good." Esme said, handing a covered plate to me.

"It's actually really hard to cook when you don't have an appetite..." Edward said, looking over at Esme and then to me. I wasn't sure whether I should be worried over what they had made.

"I'm sure it's fine." I laughed, taking the cover off of the plate.

"Is it okay?" Esme asked, looking slightly worried. I was honestly scared to eat the masterpiece that was in front of me.

"It's perfect." I laughed, looking at the beautifully arranged french toast.

"According to the website, it's stuffed french toast. There's sweet cream in the middle and some strawberries covering the top." Edward said, smiling as I began to stuff it down.

"Way better then cereal." I laughed looking over at Esme. "Thank you."

"Oh don't thank me, it was all Edward's idea." Esme said, smiling over at Edward. "I'm going to go do some work...you two talk." She said, ducking out the door quickly.

"Thank you for this," I gestured towards the breakfast. "It's really good." I said, before taking another bite.

"I decided that you needed it, especially after last night." He said, sitting beside me. I nodded, finishing off the rest of the french toast.

"I'm done." I whispered sheepishly, amazed over how much of a pig I had been.

"Then I'll take that." He said, taking the plate.

"I'll do the dishes." I said, feeling awkward over not having to clean like I usually had to at home.

"I'll do it." He said, blocking my way from the sink.

"Edward." I said, slightly annoyed. "We'll both do it." I conceded, not wanting him to have to do everything.

"Really Bella, there aren't that many dishes," He saw my resolute expression and groaned, moving over. "Fine." He began to run the water, pouring some soap on a sponge.

"Are you going to actually let me help?" I asked, amazed over how he kept all the dishes on his side. He groaned again and handed me a small plate. "Edward." I laughed, cleaning the little plate quickly. "Are you going to hand me anything else?" I asked, tapping my shoe.

"All done." He smirked at me, showing all the perfectly cleaned dishes in the dish washer.

"You were supposed to let me help." I grumbled, washing the thick soap off of my hands.

"You did help." He smiled, I flicked my hand at him, watching as the water covered his face and shirt in drops. I looked at his slightly shocked expression and doubled over laughing.

"That wasn't nice." He said, trying to keep the threatening smile off of his face.

"Oops..." I said, throwing some more water with my hand. It covered his chest, soaking the dark green material.

"You...did not...just do that!" He laughed, glaring playfully at me.

"What if I did?" I asked, smiling at him. He dashed for the soap bottle and I took off running, trying to find somewhere safe to hide. I ran for the stairs, hearing Edward gaining. I knew he could have caught me a lot faster if he wanted to, but he kept to a human speed as he followed me. I made a break for his bedroom, making it to his bathroom and shutting the door behind me quickly. I turned the lock on the handle, hearing him walk into the room. Feeling like a complete dork, I ducked into the shower, closing the door behind me.

"Bella?" Edward asked through the door, popping open the lock. Crap...crap...crap!!! I yelled in my head, seeing him coming towards the shower.

"Ha!" He laughed, pulling open the shower door. I raised my arms, pouting slightly at the soap bottle in his hand.

"Isn't this just a bit immature Edward?" I asked, pulling the wide-eyed trick. He set the bottle aside, smiling at me. For an instant I felt guilty but I turned the water on and aimed the showerhead at him, soaking him completely. I dropped the showerhead quickly and made a run for it, hoping to find Alice in her room. I ran in, finding her in her closet.

"Bella, what did you do?" She laughed, already knowing the answer. "Well at least you didn't ruin your outfit." She laughed, looking me over. I ducked behind Alice as Edward sailed through the doorway, smirking at me. I pulled the wide-eyed trick again.

"That won't work this time Bella." Edward laughed, taking a step toward me with the soap bottle.

"Edward Cullen!" Alice yelled, obviously seeing what was going to happen. "Don't even think about putting soap on that outfit!" She laughed, snatching the soap from his hand and running downstairs to put it away.

"Truce?" I asked, holding out a hand to him. He was completely drenched, his bronze hair soaked.

"Truce." He laughed, pulling me into a tight hug.

"EDWARD!!!!!!" Alice shrieked from downstairs.

"Oops..." He laughed, pulling away from me. My outfit was soaked now, the lace on my shirt dripping. Of course, I wasn't nearly as wet as Edward, but it would take about an hour to dry the shirt.

"Okay...I guess we're even." I laughed looking down at my shirt. "Oh! Alice is going to kill you!" I laughed, remembering Alice shrieking from downstairs.

"Could you go downstairs and console Alice? I need you to keep her from destroying anything of mine while I go and change." He laughed, following me as I left Alice's room.

"Okay." I said, heading towards the front room. Alice was at the foot of the stairs, tamping her heeled shoe.

"That shirt is ruined!" She said, annoyed with Edward.

"Alice, it'll dry." I said, noticing how it was already less wet.

"Just wear this, it's cuter and not wet." She laughed, tossing the shirt to me.

"Okay." I said, walking back up the stairs. I knocked softly on Edward's door, not sure whether he was still changing.

"Come in." He called from inside. I opened the door, looking up as I entered. I blushed crimson and looked away, trying not to watch Edward as he put a new shirt on. I hada to admit, his chest was perfectly sculpted. Although not as muscular as Emmett, he still had nice muscles. "Bella? You can look now." He laughed, holding my chin softly.

"Are you decent?" I asked, still not looking up, even though he had a hand on my chin.

"Yes." He laughed, smiling at me as I finally looked up. He continued staring at me, his thumb moving up to my cheek. He began to lean towards me slowly, trying to be careful.

"Bella, hurry up!" Alice said, walking past Edward's room. I pulled away while Edward straightened, glaring towards his sister.

"I should probably change my shirt..." I whispered, annoyed with Alice for interrupting.

"Okay." Edward said, grabbing a jacket as he began to head out of the room.

"Wait, Edward? Why is Alice so eager for me to hurry?" I asked, my hand on his cold arm.

"We're going to go to your house quickly. I figured you would feel more comfortable if you grabbed some of your stuff. Plus you wouldn't have to deal with Alice using you as her own barbie doll." He laughed.

"But what about Victoria, Jessica, and Lauren?" I asked, unsure of what to do.

"They're out hunting. We have time to grab what you'll need." He said, tugging on the jacket.

"Bella!" Alice said, dancing past the door again.

"I'll hurry and change." I said as Edward ducked out of his room.

--

I walked out of Edward's room quickly, hearing Alice and Edward downstairs. The new shirt Alice had given me was perfect. The dark purple-black fabric was soft to the touch.

"Finally, Bella." Alice laughed, skipping towards me. Edward smiled and led me towards the garage. Alice jumped into the back of the Volvo, guiding me towards the passenger seat. I grabbed my seatbelt, hooking it as Edward pulled out of the garage and sped down the road towards my home. We were there in minutes, Edward stopped the Volvo in front of the house and turned towards Alice in the back.

"Alice if you see anything, call me." Edward said, staring at her intently. He pushed open the door and appeared beside my door, pulling it open for me.

"I'll be upstairs. Grab whatever you know you'll need." Edward said, walking towards the back of the house.

"How are you going to get upstairs?" I asked, following him quickly.

"I'll just jump through the window." He pointed upwards, toward my bedroom window. "Do you have your house key?"

"No." I fumbled around, remembering that the house key was on my truck keys...which were still at his house. He looked around quickly, noticing that the entire street was abandoned.

"Come here." He whispered. I walked over quickly. "Keep your eyes closed." He picked me up quickly and jumped onto the roof, opening the window quickly so he could get through. "Bella, are you okay?" He asked, looking at my frozen expression.

"I'm fine...I just forgot to close my eyes." I said, blinking quickly.

"How's your hand?" He asked, holding the hand which was encased in the black cast.

"It's throbbing a bit." I said, looking down at the small cast.

"Grab what you need from up here and I'll grab you some medicine from downstairs." Edward said, smiling at me as he dashed through the doorway. I grabbed a duffle bag and began throwing clothes and some desperate essentials into it.

"Here you go." Edward said, handing me two pills of tylenol and a bottle of water.

"Thank you." I said, smiling at him. I took the medicine quickly, signaling towards the duffle bag. "I'm done."

"Is that all?" He asked, amazed.

"Yeah, why?" I asked, not sure what was odd.

"It's just that if Rosalie or Alice had to pack their stuff it would take hours." He laughed grabbing the duffle bag and handing it to Alice who stood on the roof beside the window.

"I'm simple." I said, not liking crazy overdone things.

"Are you ready?" He asked, holding his arms out. I nodded and he picked me up, ducking through the window. I had to admit, it was pretty fun. We were next to the Volvo in an instant, I got in the front seat as Edward pulled out of the parking spot.

--

"Edward? Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie are about to go out hunting. I'm going to join them but Esme and Carlisle are going later on tonight so if you want to join them." Alice said as we walked through the garage and into the house where Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie were waiting by the back.

"Alright." Edward said nodding to Alice as they all left out through the back. "So Bella, what do you want to do?" Edward asked, turning to me.

"Could you explain everything else to me?" I asked, not sure exactly how he would react.

"Okay." He said, beginning to explain everything from Carlisle being created to how they had ended up in Forks.

--

"Bella?" Edward asked, his breath ruffling my hair slightly.

"Hmm?" I asked, very comfortable in his arms.

"It's time to get up for school." He whispered, his chin rubbing against my shoulder slightly.

"Oh." I whispered, not wanting to get up. "I'm comfy here though." I said, curling into the blanket deeper.

"Alice is pacing outside with the outfit she has for you, and Rosalie has the makeup and hair products. If we don't get moving, they'll barge in after you." He laughed, standing up and pulling out an outfit to change into. He went into the bathroom quickly to change into the simple grey t-shirt and black jeans. I got up quickly and left the room finding Alice and Rosalie so they could do their thing.

They went quickly, doing the makeup simply and pulling my hair into a pony tail. The outfit they chose was perfect, the blue silk shirt went perfectly with the dark jacket and dark jeans.

"Okay, come on." Rosalie said, smiling at me as she guided me out of the room. She helped me get used to the heeled boots that they had shoved my feet into. We walked down the stairs and I couldn't help but smile at Edward who stood at the edge of the stairs.

"You look beautiful." He whispered, causing my cheeks to turn crimson.

"Thank you." I said, grabbing my backpack from him and following him into the garage and towards his Volvo. "How are the rest getting to school?" I asked.

"They are going to go in Rosalie's car." He gestured towards the beautiful red car across the garage.

"So...how could you stand going to high school over and over?" I asked, knowing that I hated going through high school just this once.

"It drowns on over the years, but you get used to it." He said, backing out of the garage smoothly. I saw Alice and waved to her quickly, seeing her wave back as she danced towards Rosalie's car.

"Oh." I said, wondering how boring that could possibly be. We made it to school quickly, very few cars were there in the parking lot as Edward pulled in. Edward got out and rushed over to open my door, smiling at me as I stepped out.

"Come on." Edward said, pulling me along as we walked towards the school. The few students who were in the parking lot I knew. Angela was by the front smiling widely as she stood next to a glowering Mike. I waved to her quickly as Edward put an arm around my shoulders, causing Mike to practically hiss. Edward laughed.

"What?" I asked, looking up at his golden eyes. He had gone out hunting Saturday night, lightening his eyes considerably.

"Newton is hilarious!" He said, still laughing.

"How so?" I wanted to know.

"He's trying to think of ways to corner me so he could get to you." Obviously he liked the possible challenge from Mike. But he and I both knew that Mike held no chance against Edward. Alice came running up behind us, Jasper walking beside her, easily keeping up.

"Hi Alice!" I laughed, smiling at her. "Hi, Jasper." I said, noticing the way he smiled also.

"Bella!" Alice laughed, handing me a necklace. "I forgot to make you put this on earlier...without it the outfit just doesn't work!" She said, causing Edward and I to roll our eyes at her.

"Lord help us if the outfit doesn't work!" Edward said dramatically, causing us to laugh. Alice glared a bit but stopped once she saw Jasper laughing also.

"We need to get going to class. The bell is about to ring." Alice said, grabbing my arm as the bell rang throughout the hall. I waved quickly to Edward, eager to see him again, and followed Alice to class.

--

"Bella Swan?" The teacher said, causing me to look up. "Grab your stuff, you're going home early." Some of the students looked at me and whispered how lucky I was, I looked pleadingly to Alice, unsure of what to do. She was panicking, not knowing whether or not to let me go.

"Miss Swan." The teacher sounded annoyed.

"Go, you'll be okay." Alice whispered, I nodded and packed my stuff slowly. I looked at her one last time and left the class, knowing that hell was waiting for me in the office. I stepped through the door of the office, looking around anxiously.

"Hello, Isabella. Your mom is here for you." The receptionist said, indicating to Victoria who was smiling beautifully in the corner.

"Thank you." I was close to hyperventilating, my breathing was labored as I walked back out of the office next to Victoria.

"Hello, Bella. Did you have a good weekend?" Victoria asked sweetly, still keeping up the pretense of a loving step-mother. I didn't answer her, I just kept walking with her towards the darkened part of the parking lot where her car stayed.

"I wonder what your father would think of you running around with strangers." Victoria said, we were on the brink of where her car was parked, near the black patch of shadows. I refused to walk any farther, hoping against hope that Edward would show up.

"They are far better then you could ever be." I spat at her, noticing the way her red eyes deepened behind the sunglasses. She shoved me forward, out of the meager light, into the side of her car.

"I wonder what you gave over while you were staying there." She growled at me. "Of course, I don't exactly understand why you chose the bronze-haired one, the muscular one was far cuter."

"You don't know what you're talking about." She was practically circling me now. "You're disgusting." I could remember all the ways she had manipulated my father, using him for her own needs. Her eyes blazed at me and she raised a hand but she was dragged away from me by her hair. Victoria was hissing and growling at Rosalie who stood, behind her, holding a painful grip on Victoria's bright red hair.

"Stay the hell away from her." Rosalie growled, yanking Victoria's hair viciously. Edward appeared beside me, holding me safely behind him. Rosalie shoved Victoria away, glaring as Victoria growled at her again. Victoria made another lunge for me, but Edward was too fast. He swung me quickly into his arms and ran, clutching me close to his body. The final thing I caught sight of was Rosalie landing a square hit to Victoria's face.

**I put pictures of some of the outfits on my profile!! Sorry it took a couple days to update!!!**

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!! You people rock!!!**


	10. Hunger

**I do not own Twilight...**

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!**

**Sorry for the long wait! WOW! 74 reviews? that amazing!!! THANK YOU!!!**

**p.s. sorry again for the wait!**

**Chapter 10**

"Bella? Bella, are you alright?" Edward asked, setting me away from him in front of his house. I stared at him, dazed from the run. "Bella? You're green." He laughed, his hands resting on my shoulders.

"You keep having to save me." I said, my voice shaking as I took a deep breath to calm down.

"It's okay, I don't mind." He laughed, following me as we walked through the door into the house. "Besides, you seem to attract all the trouble in Washington." He kept laughing, as I nodded acknowledging the fact that I did seem to get into trouble a lot.

"Edward, Bella, why are you home so soon?" Esme asked, stepping out from somewhere holding a stack of papers.

"Victoria attacked her at school. Rosalie took care of her and I got Bella away from there." Edward said, nudging me forward with a hand on my lower back.

"Edward then you better get back to class, I'll call in and have you cleared to come home." Esme said, setting aside the papers. Edward frowned, looking between Esme and I quickly.

"Edward, you don't have to stay just for me. I don't want you to miss out on school." I said, looking over at his frowning face.

"I'll be right back." He said, resting a hand against my cheek he ducked back out the door in a blur. I looked over at Esme who smiled at me pleasantly.

"Are you alright Bella?" She asked, walking towards me slowly, obviously trying not to startle me.

"I'm fine, I guess I should have known that she would try to take me...I just never thought me being away would annoy her so much." I said, remembering to all the times I had wanted to run away from Victoria. She nodded slowly, her eyes a honey brown color.

"Well, I was about to head to the store anyway. I thought since you will be staying here, you might want some food in case you feel like cooking." Esme said, grabbing a small very expensive purse.

"What about Edward?" I asked, following her out into the garage.

"I'll call the school on our way to the store...he's probably already annoyed with me for making him wait." She laughed, pulling out keys to a simple looking black car. Although it looked simple, it was probably very expensive. I jumped in and buckeled my seatbelt as she sped down the road, dialing on her phone.

"Hello, this is Esme Cullen. I'm calling because I need my son Edward to be sent home early." She said, her voice sounding like melting honey. "Yes, there just seems to be a small problem at home and I need him to be let out as soon as possible." She nodded softly into the phone, smiling. "Yes, thank you." She hung up the phone and finally focused on the road.

--

"Where were you?" Edward asked, appearing beside my opened car door in less than a millisecond.

"You seriously scare me when you do that." I laughed, stepping out of the car.

"Sorry." He said, shrugging his shoulders sheepishly. He walked to the back of the car and grabbed the rest of the bags left over in the trunk. "So you went to the store?"

"Yeah, Esme wanted to make sure I had everything I would need foodwise. Could I have a few bags please?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at the smirk on his face.

"I've got them." He said, walking through the garage door.

"But there are like 20 bags...at least give me one." I laughed, watching as he carried the bags easily.

"The last thing I want right now is to give you a bag and you trip on the carpet and send everything spilling to the ground, very possibly breaking a leg in the process and ruining Esme's carpet." He said, laughing lightly as I let out a loud pfft. "You must admit, it's possible."

"Okay...maybe." I shrugged, stepping carefully on the carpet. He saw how careful I was being and cracked up laughing.

"Oh shut up..." I whispered under my breath, knowing he heard. He raised an eyebrow at me and stepped through the kitchen door, holding it open for me even with all the bags he was carrying. "Could I open the window? It's a little warm in here." I asked, heading towards one of the windows.

"Sure." He said, distracted over how quickly he was putting away everything. I slid the window open, feeling the refreshingly cold hair hit my face. Edward turned towards me and smiled, I was so distracted I didn't even notice the wind beginning to ruffle my hair. His eyes widened suddenly as he lurched forward awkwardly, he looked completely dazed. I took a step forward towards him but he slammed backwards, heavily damaging the window/wall he had been standing in front of. He slapped his hand over the bottom part of his face, covering his nose and mouth and disappeared out of the kitchen. My eyes began to sting as I stared confused at the shattered window. Esme rushed in, looking around for Edward her eyes finally rested on me.

"What happened?" She asked softly, comforting me as she placed her palms on my shoulders.

"I don't know..." I groaned, heading quickly for the door. I needed to get out of the house quickly, I found my truck and headed for anywhere, not paying any real attention to where I was going.

--

I pulled up slowly to the small clearing, staring over at the large swing set dominating the small park. I turned my truck off quickly, heading towards one of the swings on the set. I sat down and kicked my shoes off, setting the swing in motion. I kept swinging, keeping my eyes fixed on my feet as they blended against the dark grey clouds looming in the sky.

"Creature of habit?" A bubbly voice came from the darkened trees. Victoria stood beside a bar off the side of the swing set, her brilliant red hair filled with stray leaves and twigs. "That blond friend of yours...remind me to pay her back for this." She showed me quickly a few rips and slashes in her expensive outfit.

"You started it..." I whispered, digging my feet into the sand under the swing.

"And I will finish it." Her high voice held such a dark tone in it that I couldn't help but shudder.

"What do you want?" After what had happened with Edward earlier, I no longer wanted to joke around.

"How do you honestly expect to survive with them?" She asked, her black/red eyes glistening. "Think of this...everytime you are around them it's like shoving a red-hot poker down their throats." I thought back to the look on Edward's face earlier and it all made sense. "Eventually they won't be able to stand it anymore. Someone will snap...I'm betting on the black-haired midget, and you'll be dead." She skipped away from me, laughing.

"They wouldn't!" I yelled at her, refusing to give in to her taunts.

"They WILL!" She laughed, appearing directly in front of me, her face dangerously close.

"Stop it...stop it!...just stop it!!!" I screamed, my hands covering my ears.

"What?" I looked up to see Edward standing just beyond the trees, to the left of the swing I was on.

"Victoria was here." I whispered, staring at him, not sure whether he would disappear yet again.

He paused a moment, breathing deeply. "She was." He whispered, running towards me. "Are you alright?" He asked, bending low beside me.

"I'm fine." I whispered, not wanting to think about anything she had said...except deep down I knew she was right.

"So why did you come here?" Edward asked, sitting in the swing beside mine. In truth, it looked utterly absurd having Edward sitting in the rusted old swing, his beauty contradicting the drab normality of the park.

"After my mother died, Charlie and I came here all the time." I pushed off the ground, the swing moving again.

"How did she die?" He asked, softly pushing his own swing.

"It's complicated." I sighed, not truly sure whether I should tell him or not.

"I'm pretty sure I can keep up." He said, grabbing a hold of my swing and bringing it to a stop.

"It was just before my birthday... my mom had left for Port Angeles because she was picking a gift up for me. Turns out it was a set of silver hair combs that belonged to my grandmother, my parents had decided to have the stones reset on the combs with sapphires. But that day my parents were planning on going together but my fathre had work so my mom went alone..." I felt myself beginning to cry, the wind cooling the tears quickly. "She had been leaving the jeweler when she was attacked. The people stole the combs and left her there. My dad came home and found that my mother was still gone so he left me with Angela's parents and went to Port Angeles to look for her. He found her eventually but it was too l-late. She h-had b-bled to death in the alley..." I began to sob, remembering the stricken look on my father's face, his uniform covered in blood.

"God, I'm so sorry." Edward whispered, kneeling down directly in front of me on the swing.

"They just left her there, all alone. Just leaving her there like she meant nothing to anybody!" Edward moved a hand over my cheek, wiping away some of the tears. "My dad loved my mother...deeply, and someone just took her away...over a simple pair of combs. Whats to stop someone from doing the same thing to one of my friends or to me? If it could happen to my mom, who was perfectly innocent, then what's to stop the same thing from happening to me?"

"I won't let that happen...I can't let that happen." Edward said, pulling me into his arms. I kept crying, feeling completely ridiculous.

"It could happen to anyone...and you know how I manage to attract anything dangerous within a 5 mile radius." I shrugged, feeling Edward's arms tighten around me.

"I love you too much to let that happen." Edward said, bringing new tears to my eyes.

"My dad loved my mother, but he still lost her." I continued, refusing to admit my feelings.

"I'll keep you safe." He whispered, his face pressed against my hair.

"I do love you...even if you can be a pain sometimes." I whispered, wanting to break the silence. Edward scoffed and poked me.

"I can be a pain? You have to be the most stubborn human in the world!" He laughed, running a hand along my back.

"Yes...but you love me right?" I asked, punching him lightly in the shoulder with my good hand.

"Indeed, I do." He said, smiling at me.

"Good," I laughed. "Don't forget it." I said jokingly.

"How could I possibly forget someone like you, Bella Swan?" He asked, causing my cheeks to blush ten shades of red as we walked back to my truck.

**Hopefully more will be up soon, since now my homework load is WAY lighter!**


	11. Halloween

**I do not own Twilight…**

**I'm SO SO SO!!! So beyond sorry that this is over a week or two late...I tried last week but something was up and I couldn't log in...anyway Winterguard season kicked off today! Woohoo! We got 3rd at our first performance of the season!!! So I thought I would write a fun chapter, to gear up for the next angst filled chapters! If you're wondering the name of the chapter comes from the Oingo Boingo song Dead Man's Party, it's our performance song!**

**Chapter 11**

Waking up was terrible...although, waking up beside Edward could be put in the amazing column. I tried to move my arms but they seemed oddly tucked into my sides, along with my legs tucked tightly together.

"Was I mysteriously mummified over night?" I asked, peering up from the pillows to Edward. He broke out laughing, shaking his head at me.

"You were shivering over night, so I tucked you in to keep you warm." He said, jumping up smoothly and holding a hand out for mine. "And I must say, your hair is rather interesting to look at right now." He laughed again, running his hands carefully through my crazy tangled hair.

"Oh...I'm going to take a couple of human minutes and try to figure out how to fix this haystack previously know as my hair." I laughed and ducked quickly into the bathroom, awkwardly shutting the door with my hip. I heard the door shut lightly to his bedroom and quickly brushed through the ratted hair.

"Bella? It's Alice, I'm here to give your costume to you." I swung around quickly, hearing Alice's perfectly chirping voice on the other end.

"Costume." My voice crack half-way through, knowing the tortures that would come with Alice and costumes.

"It's Halloween, silly. We get to dress up for school!" She sounded absolutely excited as she burst through the bathroom door, the door hitting the wall with a dull thunk.

"Do I have to?!" It came out as an overly exaggerated whine, but I really didn't want to be left in Alice's hands.

"Yep, we're all dressing up...even Edward." She laughed and began pulling loads of make-up out of her bag, forcing me into a chair.

"So what do I get to be?" I asked, watching her pull out several more outfits.

"I'm not telling you." She laughed, dancing to a spot in front of me.

"A vampire?" I asked, an eyebrow raising.

"Nope." She laughed, almost privately to herself.

"Well?" I asked, trying to pressure her into telling me.

"I can't tell you, Bella." She laughed, beginning to pull my hair into several rollers.

"Alice, I promise to submit to this fully without a single complaint throughout if you tell what you plan on doing." I said, knowing the risk I was taking.

Okay, but only because I know what kind of fight you're capable of." She laughed and began heating up several curlers off to the side. "You're not going to be a vampire...you're going to be a vampire slayer!" She said, clapping her hands together.

"Seriously?" I asked, remembering how I had continuously watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer when I was younger, never thinking I would actually meet a family of vampires.

"Yep! You're going to Buffy the Vampire Slayer for the day...minus the blond hair of course." Alice said, pulling several more rollers through my dark hair.

"Do I have a choice?" I asked, trying to pull a pout with Alice but she already saw it coming.

"Bella, you promised no complaints." She said, jokingly shaking a finger at me.

"Okay." I sat back, folding my arms as I pouted.

--

"Okay, just one more pin and...you're done!" Alice said, clapping her hands together in excitement.

"Is everyone dressing up?" I asked, as she handed me a mirror to look. I had to admit, I looked completely different. I could remember the costume I was wearing from somewhere in the third season of the show, the white shirt was simple the black collar surrounding my neck complimenting the black pants and shoes. The black leather jacket kept me warm...even though at the moment I felt as if I was slightly overheating. My cheeks were a bright pink color, even though Alice hadn't put any blush on me.

"Yeah, Rosalie and I are going to dress quickly before we leave." She turned around and quickly sprayed my hair through slightly with hairspray. "Bella, are you alright?" She asked, watching as my eyes drifted off slightly.

"Um...I think so, I just feel a little warm." I whispered, trying to fan my cheeks. She spun around and searched through several of the cabinets, finding a small thermometer, she put it lightly into my mouth.

"About 99.8 degrees...do you want me to tell Edward?" She asked, holding the thermometer in one hand.

"Can we not? I'm actually kind of excited about today, and Edward would worry." I said, stumbling a little bit as I stood up.

"Okay, but if you feel worse you have to tell me." She said, shaking a finger at me worriedly.

"I'm sure I'll be fine. It's probably just a little cold." I smiled, stepping out of the bathroom towards my backpack.

"Okay, well here, take these and Edward will be coming in in about 20 seconds." She laughed and skipped out the door, leaving two orange colored cold pills in my hand. I quickly walked to the bathroom and swallowed them with some water as Edward walked in.

"Hello." He smirked, showing his teeth.

"What are you wearing?" I asked, trying to keep from laughing as I looked at the two fake fangs molded to his canines.

"Apparently, I'm suppose to be Angel." He said, running a hand through his messy bronze hair.

"And I'm suppose to be Buffy...we work." I laughed, hearing Alice some running down the hall.

"I forgot to give you this." She said quickly, shoving a fake wooden stake into my hand. She skipped back out so quickly I didn't get the chance to say thank you.

"Hmmm, I wonder if this could actually work." I whispered slightly, smiling sweetly.

"I would dare you to try but I know that somehow you would and the resulting bruise would be bad." He laughed, lightly taking away the object from me.

"Hey!" I laughed, trying to jump up and grab it back from him, but he was holding it far above his head. "It's not pick on Bella day, so can I have it back please?" I asked, hearing Emmett come down the hall.

"Aww! But everyday is pick on Bella day." He laughed, carefully tucking my head under his arm and knuckling my head. I heard Alice screech from around the corner and Edward caught me as Emmett took off to safety.

"Emmett Cullen you better run!" Alice said, coming around the corner fully dressed in her outfit as an apparent fairy. It worked perfectly with her glittery makeup and her spikey black hair. "Come here Bella, I'll fix your hair quickly." She pulled me towards the bathroom and brushed my hair back out, fixing the curling waves so they fell perfectly down my back.

"Thanks Alice." I said, watching as she skipped out, her pink and black skirts flicking around her legs. "So, do you know where Emmett ran off to?" I asked, looking up to the smirking Edward who handed me back the stake.

"I think he went to school early for once." He laughed, also handing me my backpack.

"Wow...I think I would head for the hills if I made Alice mad." Edward started laughing again, grabbing his keys as we left his room.

"I headed for Alaska once, shortly after she arrived...she ended up finding me." He said, pulling another door open for me.

"How did you make her mad?" I was curious, Alice didn't seem that easy to upset as long as you left her clothes and accesories alone.

"I decided that I didn't like the fact that her clothes pretty much covered most of my closet also." He shrugged, leaving me to wonder what he actually did.

"And?" I asked, stepping into the Volvo.

"Burned them." Edward said, starting the Volvo quickly.

"Burned them?" I asked, stunned.

"Burned them." He said, smiling widely.

"Wow...and you survived?" I asked, wondering what had happened after she had gotten to Alaska.

"We came to an agreement after a while...I stay as far away as possible from her clothes and she leaves my closet alone." He said, pulling into the school parking lot alongside Emmett's jeep. "Although she does break the rule once in a while... I like her a lot more now then I did then." He laughed again, and stepped out of the car quickly pulling the door open for me.

"Do I look okay?" I asked quickly, seeing some of the costumed students staring over at us.

"You look perfect like always." He smiled at me, making it feel as if my insides were melting. "How about me?" He laughed, smiling as he did a spin around me. He looked as perfect as always, the black pants, dark blue shirt and black leather coat worked perfectly.

"Perfect." I sighed, cracking up again as I saw the fangs. "You know before I thought Vampires had to have fangs...but now the idea seems absurd to me." I smiled at him.

"Have you seen many vampires dressed as vampires on Halloween?" He asked, keeping quiet so noone else could hear.

"I would have to say that you are the first I've seen." I said as he grabbed my hand and pulled me along to where Rosalie stood with Emmett. Rosalie looked beautiful dressed in a flowing emerald green dress wearing silky green ballet shoes. Her hair was pulled back beautifully with green ribbon. Emmett stood beside her wearing an old Brooklyn Dodgers uniform.

"Is that one of the real uniforms Emmett?" I asked, wondering how expensive the costume was. He looked the part perfectly as he smiled at me.

"Yep...it's a pure original." He said, tossing a ball in his baseball glove.

"Still hiding Emmett?" Edward asked, stealing the ball so quickly I didn't even see it till it ended up in his open palm.

"Shh!" Emmett hissed, peeking around for Alice. "I can't risk Alice attacking my jeep...it's not as if I totally ruined Bella's hair! It was fixable." Emmett said trying to look innocently at me.

"Wow Emmett, as if I, of all people, wouldn't see that you went to school." Alice said, tapping a small heeled shoe. "Don't worry Emmett, since it was easy to fix your jeep is safe." Alice smiled at Emmett as he sighed loudly, obviously relieved. Alice looked even more pretty then she had earlier, her spiky black hair now had a glittery sheen to it, working perfectly with the glitter highlighting her face. The outfit she wore was cool, the black and pink bodice looking like a flowing ballerina's outfit. The pink wings resting on her back looking expensive as she stood beside Jasper.

"Bella, Edward, you look perfect!" Alice clapped her hands as she skipped forward towards me, Jasper following her carefully. Jasper was dressed carefully in a uniform from the Civil War, the uniform looked carefully preserved matching Jasper perfectly.

"Edward does make a perfect Angel, doesn't he?" Emmett asked, laughing. Rosalie smiled at us and slapped Emmett lightly on the arm, pulling him along to their first class.

"Can you believe all these outfits?" Alice asked, looking around at the dozens of guys dressed as either football, bastketball, or soccer players. Many of the girls were only half dressed using the cover of Halloween to show as much skin as possible. "Well, here are the tickets to the halloween dance tonight." Alice handed a simple ticket to both me and Edward. The bell rang loudly as I tucked the ticket into the wallet hidden inside my backpack.

"Thanks Alice." Edward said, turning towards me quickly. "I'll see you as soon as class ends." He said, smiling down at me, the fangs shining slightly from the overhead lights.

"Try not to scare too many innocent students." I laughed, still slightly amazed over how lucky I was. Edward bent down and kissed me softly, careful of both the fake fangs and his real venom coated teeth. He stepped back after a minute and smiled at me.

"I'll try." He laughed, leaving me to shakingly agree. I was dizzy on my feet as I waved quickly to Edward as Alice pulled me alongside her to our first class.

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!**

**Sorry I had to cut it off there...I know this chapter is shorter but the next will be longer since I have a performance on Friday after school instead of Saturday! So I'm hoping to have the next one at least be double this size and up on Sunday at the latest! Please Review!!!**


	12. Dead Man's Party

**I do not own Twilight…**

**Think of the warm, delicious cookie awaiting you if you review! lol or just think of the wonderful fact that my birthday is coming up as well as the release of Twilight! W00t! **

**17 years old...now officially old enough to meet a vampire in Washington...sorry wishful thinking...**

**Chapter 12**

"Wow, Bella...you look so HOT! I mean pretty!...you look very pretty, Bella." Mike was blushing crimson, jumping up quickly out of the seat Alice usually sat in. He awkwardly sat into the empty seat off to my right, looking around to make sure noone would sit there.

"You look nice too, Mike. What are you supposed to be?" But I already knew the answer, his carefully messy hair and blue button-up shirt along with the black pants left me wondering whether he had gone shuffling through Edward's laundry. The grey jacket looked almost exactly like the jacket I had seen Edward wear numerous times, except all the items were a step down from the expensive fashions that Alice had forced Edward to shop for.

"I'm...uh...suppose to be some actor from a...um...movie that I saw with Eric and Tyler." Mike smiled nervously, hoping that I couldn't tell that he was lying.

"What movie? We haven't gone to see any movies." Tyler said, leaning over from where he sat in front of my desk.

"Shut up, dude." Mike hissed, throwing a paper ball straight at Tyler's face. I quickly tried to change the subject, noticing the way Alice was trying to keep from laughing at Mike.

"So, Tyler what are you supposed to be?" I asked, noticing how nicely he was dressed in a simple black suit. The white sign hanging from around his neck had a large 'I'm Sorry' printed across in black.

"A Formal Apology...Angela helped some of us come up with our costumes." Tyler said, whispering as the teacher walked in. I waved to Angela who sat on the other side of the room, her hair was beautifully curled with a golden halo lying in her hair, the simple white dress worked perfectly with the small set of white-feathered wings she wore. She waved back quickly, motioning that the teacher was going to turn on a movie.

--

"Bella?...Bella, you need to wake up." Alice was whispering urgently. "Bella, wake up! The teachers coming." I struggled to wake up, my head was pounding painfully and the lights in the room were still off while the students watched the movie.

"Miss Swan, do you need to go to the nurse?" The teacher asked, not sounding too irritated.

"I...I think so." I was slightly shaky as I stood up, grabbing my backpack from beside my chair, I couldn't even remember how I had fallen asleep.

"Do you need someone to take you?" The teacher asked, quickly writing a pass to the nurse.

"I'll take her!" Mike said, jumping up from his seat.

"No, I can go on my own...it's no problem, really." I said, taking the slip and stumbling quickly out the door.

--

"Well, Miss Swan it would appear that you have a fever of about 100.2 degrees. Should I call someone to take you home?" The nurse asked, carefully eyeing me.

"Could I please stay? This is actually the first time I've gotten the chance to have a Halloween in years...and I feel fine, just a little tired." I said, my hand resting on the cool plastic leather of the tiny bed/couch.

"Well...I really should call someone...but I guess you can stay for the day. But if there's another incident of you falling asleep in class or if you feel worse, come here straight away." She said, scribbling down a pass to my next class. I couldn't believe how long I had been stuck in the nurse's office.

"Drink this as soon as possible...it should help with any dizziness and nausea." I nodded and took the bottle of pink juice from her as well as the hall pass. I stepped quickly out of the stuffy room and into the wide open hall. The halls were completely empty of the usual dozens of students, most of them sitting in their 4th period class. I had missed my 2nd period, 3rd period, and break. The tons of halloween decorations decorating all along the hall and the classroom windows stood out brightly with orange, yellow, and even black.

"Bells." Someone whispered from the direction of the parking lot, leaving me to spin around. A man stood on the brink of the woods, his hair tousled with leaves hanging everywhere. He smirked and waved to me, scaring me from where I stood. He stepped closer, onto the black top his barefeet standing out starkly against the black cement.

"Bella?" Edward asked from somewhere beside me. I spun back around, remembering the man's smirking grin, so sickening to look at.

"Hi." I whispered, somewhat shaken.

"Are you alright?" He asked softly, stepping towards me.

"Yeah, I'm fine just a little sleepy." I said, tossing one of my stray waves behind my ear.

"Come on, I'll walk you to class." Edward said, grabbing my hand and pulling me softly along.

"Wait, Edward I have a question." I said, jerking to a stop.

"Yes?" He asked, staring at me amused.

"I was wondering...would one of these actually work?" I asked, holding up the fake wooden stake to his chest.

"I doubt it...but you can try if you want." He said, laughing.

"Well that's no fun...you just ruined the realism of the vampires in both Buffy and Angel." I said, pouting jokingly at him. He smiled, showing the pretend fangs, and continued pulling me along towards class.

"You're so human." He laughed, as we stopped outside my classroom.

--

"Come on." Alice said, grabbing my hand as she smiled beautifully at the coach in P.E.

"Alice, class isn't over yet." I said, seriously confused as I saw Rosalie by the Gym door.

"We need to change." She said, dancing in front of me out the door.

"Into what?" I asked, looking down at my costume. Our P.E. teacher had let us stay in our halloween costumes, deciding that we would watch yet another movie on trick or treating safety.

"Your new costume." Rosalie smiled, both breaking into laughs as I groaned loudly.

"Wow...vampires truly are evil...well at least the female ones." I pouted, following them towards Rosalie's car.

--

"You're Cinderbella, I'm Alice in Wonderland, and Rosalie is the Unsleeping Beauty." Alice laughed, swiveling my chair around so I could see my new costume.

"I really like it, Alice." I smiled, looking over at Alice. She was dressed in a very pretty short aqua colored dress, the pretty silk flaring slightly so the underskirt of pale white could be seen. Her black mary janes were a stark contrast to the pale white skin on her legs. Her short black hair was brushed back, a black hairband with a black bow standing out in her hair. She actually looked like a very retro Alice in Wonderland.

"Bella, you're suppose to look at your costume." Rosalie laughed, twirling around in her Sleeping Beauty like dress. The sheer sleeves covered her arms tightly, falling very nicely around her slim wrists. The soft fabric was a pale color somewhere between pink and blue, much like the Disney cartoon. The sheer fabric covering the dress shined both a vibrant blue in one light and a vibrant pink in another. The dress fell to just above her knees, twirling around softly. The golden headband in her hair perfectly complimented her beautiful blond hair.

"Bella, look at your costume." Alice said, firmly swinging my chair so I had to look in the mirror. "Now look."

"You look gorgeous, Bella." Edward said from the previously locked door, Alice grabbed a pillow and threw it slamming into his face and chest. I laughed, finally looking into the mirror as Edward ducked out of the room. The dress was so pretty, a pale white satin shining brightly in the light. The dress ended at my knees, the sheer pale blue fabric covered most of the dress, small clusters of glitter and clear crystals dazzled in the light. The small sleeves were slightly capped, the blue fabric shining against the pale skin of my shoulder. Alice had tied a small choker of black lace around my neck, and my hair had been pulled back into a very pretty bun. The black lace headband matched the choker perfectly.

"You look perfect." Alice smiled, coming up beside me. "Like a perfectly modern Cinderella...now we have to go downstairs because Esme wants to take pictures." Alice smiled and pulled me along, Rosalie following closely. Edward, Jasper, and Emmett stood downstairs, dressed completely in black. Emmett was fidgeting lightly, staring at Rosalie as she came down the stairs. I got to the stairs, smiling slightly and began to descend trying to appear graceful. But of course my klutzy senses kicked in and I went toppling over, Edward catching me easily.

"Still the same beautiful, problematic, Bella." Edward smiled, his cool cheek resting against my still fevered one. Esme and Carlisle walked up quickly, smiling proudly, Esme took close to a million pictures, about half of those being both me and Edward. Carlisle finally took the camera from Esme, deciding that we had taken more than enough pictures.

"Have fun kids." Esme called, waving quickly to me and Edward. Edward tucked his arms around my waist, pulling me towards the Volvo.

"We don't have to stay very long, Bella. Only long enough to make Alice happy." He laughed, looking over at me when he oppened my door.

"We're going to be there forever." I laughed, the drive to the school was quick. Edward opened the door for me yet again, helping me out, I saw that Rosalie, Alice, Jasper, and Emmett hadn't arrived yet.

"Everything will be fine." Edward said, holding me close. The honking from Emmett and the others made me try to jump from Edward, but he held on, keeping me close.

"Aww! Look at the lovebirds." Emmett boomed, reaching to carefully grab my head for some kind of joke but the look from Alice made him stop dead in his tracks.

"Okay...lets go." I said, somewhat forlorn over having to be stuck in a dance. Edward grabbed my hand and smiled as we walked into the gym.

--

The clashing colors of the lights made me dizzy as I stood somewhere in the middle of the crowded gym. People were surrounding me, giving me the feeling of claustrophobia. I couldn't recognize anyone as the waves of costumed students overcame me, keeping me from heading for the door.

"Bella!" Angela yelled from far off, waving one of her white gloved hands toward me.

"Angela!" I yelled back, my head pounding as my voice came out as a gravelly scream.

"Bella..." Someone whispered from beside me, dashing past my side creating a clearing for me to head through. I saw part of a yellow sundress and took off at a run, trying to catch up. The door was closing quickly as I launched myself into it, slamming my knee painfully but managing to keep the door open enough for me to fit through.

"Bella!" Alice yelled, the locked door slamming closed in her face. She spun around quickly, trying frantically to find Edward in the crowd. She screamed out in her head for him to come, sending as many thoughts at him as possible. I continued down the hall, limping painfully on my now swelling knee.

"Mom." I kept whispering to myself, trying to keep pace with my painfully throbbing knee, as the yellow dressed figure disappeared around corner after corner.

"Bella." Her voice was like music, bringing the same feelings of being lulled to sleep. I heard the loud slam of the locker room door, the noice slightly muffled by the roaring of the showers. I stepped inside quickly, enveloped by the thick clouds of steam, I heard a soft clicking of heels coming towards me and spun around towards the noise. The fists shoved into my back caught me by surprise as I slammed into the showerroom floor. I began gasping for breath, the blows to my back had robbed me of breath.

"Bella...sweet...simple...foolish, Cinderbella." I looked up, managing to see the yellow-garbed woman standing there mocking me. Tears clouded my vision as she stepped closer, smiling wickedly with triumph.

"Jessica...it's over, just leave!" I gasped, my breath coming in painful heaves.

"Why would I want to do that? You are after all my sister." The final word came out through her teeth as she planted a foot against my throbbing knee and stepped down, causing me to scream out. I knew it was pointless, the roaring of the showers overhead kept my from being heard. "Why Bella, that pretty dress of yours...it's getting ruined." She laughed, turning the shower head more towards where I was curled into a ball, trying to be careful with my swollen knee.

"Let me ask you this, Bells," I cringed as she used the old nickname that my father had called me by. She kneeled down beside me, yanking a stand of my hair out of the way. "Do you know who the Volturi are." I swung my head to the side, refusing to look at her, she caught my chin in a painfully tight grip and swung my face back towards her.

"No." I whispered, trying to break free of her crushing grasp.

"Well, you see Bella, they're coming for you and your new family...Edward especially." She leaned in closer, her stance seemed predatory. "It seems that your family broke a rule when informing you about what they are...and do you know what the punishment usually is?" She smiled brightly, I already knew what it was since she was smiling so openly. My eyes filled with tears again as I fought to get up.

"Oh, and by the way, your mom was such a good sport with handing over these combs..." Her hand flew to one piece of the double comb set, the silver comb set beautifully with sapphires. "Within seconds flat Victoria had her screaming to steal them. I also really love this dress, your mom had some pretty nice clothes." She laughed, shoving off my knee as she stood back up. I couldn't help myself when I let out a scream from the throbbing pain radiating from my knee.

"Bella?!" Alice shouted through the door, her voice sounding perfect to my ears.

"Damn..." She jumped away from me, grabbing some stuff from one of the lockers in the corner. "Well Bella, try to remember what I've said. You'll probably end up a lot better alone then putting your precious Cullens in danger." She sneered, her black eyes slightly red. Something smashed through the door, causing Jessica to dart away as fast as possible. I curled back into myself, the tears finally falling as I began to think of how I would be able to survive having to send Edward away. I didn't hear the showers being shut off as I lay there, against the floor and slowly rocked myself back and forth, my knee completely numb.

-- (Edward's Point-of-View) --

_Edward!!_

I heard Alice's long drawn out thought through out the thoughts of everyone on the dancefloor. She was panicking, so much so that I could feel how anxious she was all the way from where I was standing...looking for Bella in the excited crowd.

_Edward, it's Bella!!_

I jerked to attention, rushing to Alice's side carefully. I scanned a few thoughts rapidly, trying to hear if anyone had noticed...apparently not.

"What is it, Alice?" I asked, watching the way she jumped from foot to foot, frantic.

"Just follow me." She gripped my hand with a force that would have easily shattered a human's hand. She dragged me down the hall quickly, letting me lead after a few seconds.

"Alice...there's blood on the door." I cut off my air, already knowing that it was Bella's. There wasn't much, but there was enough to make my entire throat feel as if it was on fire. Alice had stopped walking, staring off for a minute.

"Bella..." She drawled slowly, brinking rapidly to stop an invisible flood of tears. I caught one look and took off at a dead run, making it through the entire hall in less then a second, the locker room door was locked, keeping me from entering. I could hear all the showers roaring full blast, drowning out the voices coming from inside. But the sudden heart-piercing shriek that managed to break through the roar of the showers left my blood running cold.

"Bella?!" Alice screamed through the door, hearing a muffled voice through the pouring water.

_Damn Cullens...always coming at the wrong time..._

The thought finally peeked through to me, leaving me to wonder whether I had been blocking her thoughts in my panic.

"It's Jessica...she's the one holding her captive." I said, stepping backwards and slamming my shoulder through the metal door. Alice ran through, easily hopping over the half-crumpled metal door, she ran to the shower room and began shutting off all the seperate showerheads.

"Bella!" I slid over to where she was huddled on her side, shivering from the now cold water...of course it didn't help that my skin was so cold.

"Ed...Edward?" She asked, her teeth chattering.

"Edward, she's going into shock." Alice said, pulling dry clothes from somewhere...I was assuming her locker.

_Her eyes are dilated, her skin's clammy, she's confused...falling asleep, and she barely has a heartbeat._

"I know what shock is Alice!" I snapped, truly at a loss for words over what to do.

_Edward, I'll change her clothes so she gets warm...go find Emmett and Jasper, they'll fix the door while we get out of here._

"What about the blood?" I asked, still unable to breathe...the scent too delicious for my senses.

_I'll take care of it...there's not very much._

"Alright." I whispered, standing up easily holding Bella in my arms. Alice held her arms out softly, ready to hold her. "I love you, Bella..." I whispered softly, burying my face in her neck while handing her over to Alice. Bella responded softly, her arms linking around my neck softly...all the strength she had left wanning.

"I love you too, Edward." She whispered through chattering teeth as Alice softly took her from me and carried her off somewhere for her to change.

-- (Bella's Point-of-view) --

"What happened to you, little sister?" Emmett asked, peering over me as I flinched from the sound of grinding metal.

"Oh thank God, you're awake!" Alice and Rosalie said in unison, standing off to the side of the bench where I was laying, propped up by rather comfy jackets. I jumped up, Alice successfully keeping my knee from slamming against the metal locker.

"That would have been bad." She said, carefully placing my leg in a better position.

"Where's Jessica?" I asked, looking around. My head was pounding horribly and the knee Alice had kept from slamming into the locker felt as if it was falling off.

"Bella, she ran off." Edward said, suddenly appearing in front of me.

"Edward." I said, unable to keep the sigh out of my voice.

"Bella." He said, smiling so beautifully. "Can you walk?" I ignored Alice's subtle shake of her head, wanting to prove that I could at least try. I stood up slowly, testing the rigid pain in my knee. I was keenly aware of how close Edward was, hovering in case I fell. I first couple steps were the absolute most painful...my knee feeling as if it had been run through a meat grinder. Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic...

"Edward." Alice said, motioning with her head. I began to tumble, my knee feeling weak as I began to topple over. Edward cursed slightly, catching me quickly.

"Can I take over now?" He asked, smirking at me.

"Fine." I said, slightly breathless as he held me. He began to blink rapidly, shaking his head slightly as if he was coming out of a daze like I felt I was.

"Here we go." His voice sounded breathless also, I admitted to myself with a grin. I looked around at the others; Alice, Rosalie, Emmett, and even Jasper were smiling widely. He swung me up into a cradle very carefully, trying to keep careful with my injured knee. I tucked a jacket around me slowly, as I drifted off to sleep on the way to his Volvo.

**Please Review!!!**


	13. Unspoken

**I do not own Twilight...**

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!!**

**Chapter 13**

"Edward?" I asked, not too sure whether I could talk. I was sitting carefully in one of the chairs in Carlisle's office, Edward standing to my side while Carlisle carefully checked my throbbing knee.

"Bella?" Edward asked, looking down towards me.

"Who are the Volturi?" I asked softly, knowing that no matter what they would be able to hear me. Edward froze, his eyes colliding with Carlisle's.

"Where did you hear about them?" Edward asked.

"Jessica." I whispered, the name coming out like the most corrosive form of acid. Edward's eyes blazed for a minute, caught somewhere between fury and agony.

"Edward." Carlisle whispered, his golden eyes watching his son. Edward's hands were clasped to tightly that I held no doubt over whether they could disintigrate the strongest types of materials. Edward flung his head to the side, storming out of the room.

"What did I do?" I begged, catching Carlisle as he quickly turned away. "Carlisle?" I asked, so unsure of myself.

"Edward...feels guilty right now." He stated, so simply as he finished wrapping my injured knee.

"Why?" I asked, feeling so stupidly helpless.

"He's ashamed of the fact that Jessica was able to get to you, to injure you, while he was there." Carlisle said, pulling out a small pill bottle from one of the cabinets.

"But it's not his fault, how was he suppose to hear her in a crowd like that?" I asked, wanting to get up and follow him but Carlisle kept a safetly firm hand on my shoulder.

"He knows that, but Edward overthinks things, carefully measuring everything and today, this attack, your injuries, weighs heavily on his conscience." Carlisle said, tucking the medicine into my hand. Carlisle carefully took my elbow, helping me over to Edwards room, my knee making walking somewhat awkward...well more then it was already.

"Take two of these and head to bed, they should knock you out rather quickly. Your knee isn't permanently injured, just very swollen and bruised, I wrapped it up so it should be healed within a week or two." Carlisle said, grabbing two of the pills from the bottle and some water, he handed them to me while I tried to sit on the couch in Edward's room.

"Thank you." I said, quickly taking the medicine as Carlisle stepped out of the room. I had to admit, almost the entire day had sucked...except for the time which had spent with Edward before the dance and everything.

"Bella?" Alice whispered through the doorway, Rosalie standing beside her.

"Hi Alice, hi Rosalie." I said, smiling at them as they walked in.

"Are you feeling alright?" Rosalie asked, sitting beside me on the couch.

"I'm fine, just sore." I said, smiling awkwardly.

"We brought these for you." Alice said, handing over a simple pair of flannel pajama pants and a white shirt.

"Thanks Alice. I wasn't exactly sure about how to get out of this thing." I laughed, trying to lighten my own gloomy mood. Alice laughed, quickly showing me the several ties and zippers so changing wouldn't be entirely impossible. I stumbled into the bathroom managing to maneuver around my knee enough so that I could change.

"Carlisle told me that you wanted to know about the Volturi." Alice said, talking through the door until I managed to open it.

"Yeah...it was just about something Jessica said." I whispered, stumbling onto the couch. Alice nodded and sat on the other side of the couch.

"What did she say?" Rosalie asked, raising an eyebrow in my direction.

"It's...nothing important." I lay back onto the couch, keeping my knee carefully tucked.

"I don't know very much, only what Carlisle knows...since he was the one who spent time with them." Alice said, waiting for some response.

"Okay." I honestly wanted to know so badly who these vampires were, what possible threat they posed to the Cullens and especially Edward.

"Technically, they are the Guardians of the Vampire world." Alice said, rearranging herself so she could stare at me directly.

"They're Vampire Royalty." Rosalie said from where she was sitting beside me.

"They're meant to protect the secret of vampires, so they were pretty much the ones who started the rumors of stakes, crucifixes, even garlic." Alice said, making a face at the thought of garlic, I couldn't help but laugh at her expression.

"So if a vampire told a human about the existance of said vampires, would they do something to both the human and vampire?" I asked, scared of Alice's answer. The look she sent me, possibly already knowing what I was going to do, chilled me to the bone. Her face carried so many expressions, the most outright one was pain.

"They would probably warn the vampire, or worse, and kill the human or turn her." She exaggerated "her", knowing fully who I was referring to. I tried to send her a look, trying to plead for some source of understanding, but I couldn't even understand what I needed to do. "How's your fever?" She asked, trying to break the painful silence left after her words.

"It's fine, Carlisle gave me cold medicine." I wanted so desperately to be alone, knowing that we had somehow broken the "rules," I knew about the existence of vampires and there was no way I wanted any of the Cullens to be harmed. I would risk being killed or changed, but I didn't want to risk permanently losing any of them.

"Come on, Rose." Alice said, standing up in a blur, she turned towards me, hugging me quickly. "Think, Bella. Things are never as bad as they seem." She sounded so hopeful, giving one last small squeeze, carefully since I was human. They left quickly, disappearing out of the room, leaving me to curl up alone on Edward's couch and feel the waves of drug-induced sleep wash over me.

--

I woke up slowly, both my head and knee throbbing painfully. I looked around slowly, noticing that the sun was still down, shedding no light into the room.

"Bella, are you alright?" Rosalie asked through the door, keeping her voice soft just in case I had been asleep.

"I'm fine, Rosalie." I whispered, knowing she could still hear me, the only problem I was having was keeping the pain from flooding into my voice. Both my headache and the pain in my knee were steadily wearing me back down.

"We need you to see Edward, he seems pretty torn up." She whispered, leaving me to finally notice the soft music playing from downstairs.

"Alright." I said, knowing that I would have to find a reason to leave, one that would convince Edward. I stood up slowly, changing into a pair of simple black jeans and a green shirt. I opened the bedroom door, stepping into the darkened hall, and began to make my way downstairs, towards the piano where I knew Edward would be playing.

I crept along the hall, finally getting to the stairs, where I could see the sun creeping through the morning clouds. It was probably the last time the sun would shine today, judging from the look of the dark black clouds.

"Bella, don't this." Alice whispered, appearing somehow beside me. Her eyes were dark, judging from her lack of feeding recently. I looked down towards my feet, trying to fight the protests against what I was going to do. I wanted so badly to admit what was going to happen, what Jessica had threatened me with, everything Victoria had ever told me.

"I have no choice." My throat felt clogged, knowing that what I was saying was stupid, I had a choice but I didn't want to risk involving the Cullens, knowing that no matter what they had to stay away from me, safe from whatever was coming.

"Fight back, no matter what he says, don't fall for it, don't give in to what he says." Alice's sudden hold on my wrist gave evidence to the panicked look in her eyes, she had seen what was going to happen.

"I'm sorry, Alice." I whispered, walking back down the stairs, away from the stricken look on Alice's face. I made my way towards the room where the piano was, the soft music playing so beautifully in my ears. I had heard the tune before, Edward had hummed it to me almost every night I had been here, lulling me to sleep carefully. I paused in the doorway and practically shoved my way in, hating the task that lay ahead.

Edward was sitting on the piano bench, still dressed in the costume from the other night, he focused on the piano, playing the music so beautifully.

"I need you to be safe." He whispered over the lullaby, inadvertantly drawing me closer.

"I know." I said, not able to keep the sadness from my voice.

"I've done a horrible job." His voice was dark, the melancholy note hidden within sending chills down my spine. I shook my head no so sharply that my headache felt even worse.

"Do you want me to leave?" I whispered, sitting beside him. I watched his eyes as they darkened to a deeper black.

"I want you to be safe." He said, his teeth grinding as the music became darker with the notes he played.

"I love you." I said, lightly touching the back of one of his hands. The shocking cold of his skin no longer bothered me, he took his hand away playing notes farther from where I sat.

"You are my life." Edward said, abruptly stopping the music flowing from the piano. "I refuse to keep risking your life for the sake of my own selfishness." I wanted to object, but I knew that this was probably the only way I could leave.

"I am hoping, that with my staying away from you, Victoria and the rest will leave you alone. I'm hoping that they will stop this ridiculous game that they are playing at." Edward said, turning towards me, his eyes seemed so tormented. "I spoke with Angela, she said you can stay with her." I looked away from him, my eyes stinging from tears, I knew it was probably for the best yet I still hated any idea of having to leave Edward.

"I...I'll..." I finally stopped, no longer knowing what I had meant to say. I fought to keep my mind focused, trying to realize that this was for the best, it would keep Edward safe from the Volturi and Victoria would have no reason to harm me anymore.

"I really do love you, Bella." He whispered, standing up and turning from me. He was gone before I could look back up, leaving the room so cold and empty.

--

I packed my stuff quickly, making sure to check in with Angela. She had offered to come down and help me but I had refused, deciding that I could do it on my own. Edward still hadn't come back yet, disappearing along with Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper.

"Bella?" Esme asked, peering through the open door of Edward's room. I smiled towards her as she carefully stepped inside, beginning to help me fold some of the clothes still layed out on the couch. "I was wondering over something."

"Mmm hmm?" I murmered, continueing with the folding slowly.

"Why were you asking about the Volturi?" She asked, her golden eyes turning towards me.

"Just something Jessica said." I whispered, not wanting to give to much information. I knew that if they did find out about the Volturi they would want to stand up and fight, which was far too dangerous in my mind.

"What did she say?" Esme continued, not looking away. Her gaze left me squeamish, leaving me feeling guilty over what I wasn't willing to admit.

"It's nothing, Esme." I said, zipping my bag closed.

"Did she threaten you?" Esme asked. I knew that Esme didn't have powers like Edward, Alice, or Jasper but it felt as if she could see right through me.

"No." I whispered, looking away from her and heading down the hall.

"Is that why you didn't fight against Edward's argument?" She continued down the hall beside me, easily keeping up.

"Esme, I don't want anyone to worry." I said, finally looking at her as I grasped my keys on the table.

"Bella, we would protect you." Esme said, her hands resting on the door of my truck as I stepped inside.

"That's what I'm afraid of." I whispered, the tears finally falling along with the rain. Esme stepped away and watched as I drove off, my truck groaning along as I pushed the gas as hard as possible.

--

**Sorry people, it may be another while till I update again =( My brother broke our router so I'm using a library computer for an hour at a time! Ugh...anyway Please R-E-V-I-E-W!!!**


	14. Better that We Break

**I do not own Twilight…**

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!!**

**Chapter 14**

I made my way carefully towards Angela's house, the rain plowing against my truck the entire way. I was crying nonstop, the tears coming like a flood amidst the storm of my emotions. I saw Angela's house shortly down the block, a bright umbrella calling to me like a beacon. I cam to a stop beside her sidewalk, carefully shutting my truck off and grabbing ahold of my backpack beside me. Angela came to my door quickly offering to help me with my stuff, I shook my head no and quickly ran with her towards the front door of her home.

"Bella, I'm so sorry." She said, setting aside her umbrella beside the door.

"It's okay, Angela." I said, wiping my hand quickly under my eyes to see if the tears had finally stopped flowing. They hadn't yet they had slowed considerably.

"When Dr. Cullen called me I knew something had to be wrong...do you want to talk about it?" She asked, turning towards me and handing over a tissue.

"Carlisle called you?" I asked, figuring that Edward had been the one to call Angela.

"Yes, sometime really late last night, the phone rang right after I got home from the dance." She said, helping me up the stairs towards where her room was.

"Did he tell you what happened?" I asked, not sure how much she really knew.

"Only that you had injured your knee during the dance last night, and that you would need somewhere to stay for a little while." Angela said, the towel she handed me was warm. The mention of a "little while" made me feel somewhat better, thinking that Edward and I would only have to stay away from each other for a short time...but then the full reality of the Volturi hit and I suddenly want to sob full out.

"Bella," Angela began, unsure of what to do as she saw the massive amount of tears welling within my eyes. "Do you want to talk about it maybe?" She asked, offering support so simply.

"Not really." I whispered, dropping my backpack from where it lay against my shoulder.

"Here, I'll show you to the guest room we have." She helped me around, my knee still throbbing painfully.

"Are you sure your mom is okay with this, Angela?" I asked, not wanting to cause any tension.

"She's fine with it." Angela said, smiling. "Now I should warn you, the room is pretty small, probably the same size as your old room." She said, pulling me towards the room.

"Anythings good." I said, working up a smile as we walked into the room. It was a little larger then my old room, the cream colored walls matching perfectly with the violet bedset. "Did your mom design the room?"

"Yeah, it was her project for the summer." Angela said, helping me unpack my stuff.

"It's really pretty." I said, sitting down on the cushioned bed as soon as we were done completely.

"Thanks, she'll be happy to know that." She said, sitting down beside me. "Is there anything you want to do?" She asked, looking towards the clock. I was surprised but how early it was, it felt as if hours had gone by.

"Well, I have to do an essay for english and some work for math." I said, amazed over how much I had slacked off.

"I have to work on the essay also. I'll go grab my computer and we can start working on them...if you want?" She asked, looking over at me.

"Sure, that'd be great." I said, smiling at her. She ducked out of the room quickly, leaving me alone yet again.

--

I woke up slowly Monday morning, not really in a hurry to go to school. I heard Angela moving downstairs, probably eating breakfast, and rushed to get dressed not wanting to look too lazy to her mom. I came down the stairs slowly, amazed over how slowly the weekend had gone by as soon as Angela and I had gotten our essays and other work done.

"Hi, Bella." Ms. Weber said from beside her daughter, her smile was warm as she turned towards me.

"Hello." I said awkwardly, sitting in one of the empty seats.

"Angela, why don't you go get the rest of your things for school?" She asked, smiling. Angela left the room quickly, shortly after putting what was left of her breakfast away.

"Bella, I have to make sure of this. Is it alright with your mother that you stay here?" She asked, looking me straight in the eyes.

"Victoria is fine with me staying." I said, managing to look her in the eye.

"Alright, I just wanted to make sure." She said, standing up and pouring out the rest of the coffee she had been drinking. I smiled quickly to her as she walked out of the room, Angela came along quickly both of our backpacks slung over her shoulder. I took mine quickly and led her towards me truck.

"You're going to school with me right?" I asked, not sure whether she would go with her mom or if she had her own car.

"If it's alright." She whispered, following me carefully.

"Yeah, sure." I said, stepping into my truck carefully.

--

I drove to school slowly, the rain slickened streets dangerous for me. I felt as if I was shaking the entire way, so scared to face the day whatever was left between me and Edward. I scanned the parking lot quickly as I pulled in, catching no sight of Edward's Volvo.

"There's Mike, you can park beside him." Angela said, pulling me away from my looking. I pulled in beside Mike, seeing the way he was smiling and waving at me.

"Hi, Bella." He said, opening the door for me.

"Hi, Mike." I said, trying to smile but the excited look on his face left me wondering what he was so happy about.

"Sorry about Cullen." He said, his voice stuck somewhere between genuine sincerity and sarcasm.

"Uh...thanks, Mike." I said, my eyes going back down towards the ground.

"It's alright," He hugged me tightly, his face resting on my hair, I heard him breathe deeply and shuddered. "I'm here for you." I looked towards Angela, who shrugged, not exactly sure what to do.

"Mike?" I asked after a minute of Mike not letting go of me. "Mike, let go." I said, shoving against his chest. After half a minute he finally let go, caught between a groan and a sigh.

"Bella?" Angela whispered, her wide eyes turning towards me. She pointed towards the other side of the parking lot, where Edward's silver Volvo was parked. Edward was leaning casually against the Volvo, glaring steadily towards Mike. Mike took a quick step back but frowned and stepped towards me again, his arm going around my shoulder.

"Mike, knock it off." I said, stepping away from him as his arm dropped from my shoulders.

"Sorry." He muttered, glaring down towards the ground. I looked back over towards the Volvo, no longer seeing Edward standing there.

"Bella?" Angela asked, waving her hand back and forth in front of my eyes.

"Yeah?" I asked, snapping back into the present.

"The bell just rang, we have to get to class." Angela said, pulling me along beside her. Mike must have gone on ahead because he was already out of sight. As we walked farther into the school I kept scanning the crowd for Edward but I couldn't see him anywhere.

--

I managed to make it to my first period class in time, the bell chiming loudly just as I walked through the door. I hurried towards my seat, noting the fact that Mike had taken a seat as far from mine as possible.

"What did you do to Newton?" Tyler asked, peering towards me as I sat down.

"Nothing, he just got a little too affectionate in the parking lot." I whispered, my cheeks burning red as I fumbled for my notebook.

"Smooth one, Mike." Tyler said, laughing as he looked towards Mike.

"Sorry, Mike." I whispered, feeling guilty over putting him on the spot. He nodded to me quickly, smiling. I looked towards Alice, the spot where she usually sat beside me was empty, instead she sat in a seat across the way, none of the students daring to sit next to her. I looked down at my desktop, tears filling my eyes. I hated this, I hated not being able to tell them anything, I hated not being able to hang out with Alice, but most of all I hated not being able to be with Edward.

"Okay Class! Quiet Down!" Our teacher called, dropping his books on one of the desks. I looked back at Alice one more time as the teacher continuously told the students to quiet down. Her eyes turned to me, and the apologetic look she sent made me feel somewhat better, at least knowing that Alice didn't hate me. I sat back in my seat, trying to pay attention to what our teacher was rambling about, but I couldn't. I just sat back, waiting for the time to pass until I had to go to the next class, and the next...

--

I managed to get to lunch, unable to catch a glimpse of Edward at all since this morning. I sat in the seat beside Angela, not paying attention as Mike stole the seat beside me.

"Do you want to go with me to get something to eat, Bella?" He asked, moving the seat closer to mine.

"I'm actually not all that hungry." I said, ignoring him somewhat. Whatever act he had tried to pull this morning had made me mad, even though I had felt guilty over letting it slip in class.

"Well...can you come with me anyway?" He asked, smiling at me widely.

"Alright." I conceded, watching as Mike's face split into an overly happy smile. "Angela, can you come with?"

"Sure, I was getting up to get food anyway." She said, smiling. Mike's face fell, obviously wanting it to be him and I alone.

"Lead the way." I said, watching as Mike stomped off. He slowed down halfway, deciding to let us catch up. I stayed beside Angela, Mike on her other side.

"Have you seen Edward today?" I asked Angela, trying to whisper.

"No, but-" She began, cut off abruptly by Mike.

"Cullen's here, he was in my last class...glared at me the whole time." He said, beginning to put stuff on his tray. "The guy gives me the creeps." Mike said, continuously piling food on the tray.

"You must have been really desperate to go out with him." He muttered under his breath. I swung my head to look at him, Angela glaring at him right along with me.

"You're an ass." I whispered, leaving what I had as I walked back towards the table. I grabbed my backpack, deciding that being in the library would be a lot better than having to deal with Mike for the next half hour. I hung my backpack over my shoulder, heading for the door of the cafeteria.

I wasn't paying attention at all as I slammed into something halfway down the hall, cold hands gripped my arms, holding me close so that I wouldn't fall.

"Are you alright, Bella?" Edward asked, his voice so perfect in the silence of the hallway.

"I'm fine." I whispered, looking at my feet.

"Did Newton say something?" He asked, his warm eyes going cold.

"It's nothing." I said, not wanting Mike to have to deal with Edward's wrath.

"Bella, what did he say?" He sounded somewhat exasperated, his eyes pleading down into mine.

"Nothing for you to worry about." I said, turning to walk back to the cafeteria, giving up on the library all together.

"Bella, wait." Edward said, his hand catching mine, spinning me around towards him. "Bella, I'm so sorry about last weeked but I just can't risk-" His eyes were warm gold, the depth of them leaving me tumbling forward.

"It's fine." I said, my voice breaking slightly. "You want me to stay safe and I want you to be safe." I tried to step away, back towards the cafeteria again.

"Wait." He said, pulling me to a halt yet again. "Safe from what?" He asked, his eyes burning into mine. I began to panic, hating that I had let something slip.

"Nothing, it was just a figure of speech." I said, trying to sound flippant but I was scared that he would figure out what I was trying to do. I tugged my hand softly, trying to get him to let go. He dropped his hand instantly, leaving me to miss the coldness of his palm. I stepped away slowly, hating the look of pain that crossed his eyes as I turned. I could feel that pain, I hated that pain.

--

I sat in Biology, feeling awkward as I sat beside Edward. We were both silent, barely moving. The tension was almost unbearable as the teacher finally began class, drawing attention to the board. After ten minutes the door opened, a T.A. walking through the door.

"Okay students, it would appear that we have a new student." He said, motioning towards the door. I watched, along with Edward, as Jessica stepped through smiling so beautifully. That same beauty that Edward supernaturally possessed.

"Miss Swan, if you could be your sister's lab partner from now on. I'm sure Mr. Cullen can take care of himself." The teacher said, motioning for me to sit beside Jessica in the table just behind Edwards.

"Bella, don't go." He whispered, his hand latching softly on my wrist.

"I have no choice." I whispered, hating Jessica with every fiber of my being at that moment.

"Mr. Cullen." The teacher said, his voice coming out as a warning. I moved away as soon as Edward let go, sitting beside Jessica as she smiled so innocently towards the teacher. He was obviously smitten, his eyes looking glassy.

"Hi, Bella." She chirped, smiling at me. I looked ahead at Edward, ignoring the way Jessica glared. His eyes captured mine for an instant, his eyes burning. I looked forward, hating the teacher so much for putting me in this hell.

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!!**


	15. Where do I hide?

**I do not awn Twilight...**

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!!!**

**OME****!! Thank you to all those who reviewed the last chapter! I never expected so many!!!**

**Chapter 15**

I sat back in my chair, trying to keep from looking over at Jessica. Mr. Banner was standing in the front of the class, his eyes constantly straying towards Jessica. I glared at him, hating him for so easily falling for whatever Jessica was planning. Edward was sitting in front of our table, his hands clenched so tightly together, I had no doubt that they could easily snap metal.

"So, Bella, how have you been?" Jessica asked, her voice sounding sickeningly sweet.

"Leave me alone, Jessica." I whispered, my teeth gritting painfully.

"Well that's not nice." She said, her oddly colored eyes narrowing.

"Does it look like I care?" I whispered, my eyes glaring towards hers. I knew she couldn't possibly threaten me in public, especially not so close to Edward.

"Oh, you are just such a downer." She whispered, her smile lighting up her face as she grabbed a hold of my hand, her grip around my wrist was quickly making my hand go numb. I felt something crack and couldn't help but let out a small yelp. Edward stood up so quickly, his stance challenging Jessica.

"Mr. Cullen!?" Mr. Banner yelled from the front of the class. "Get back in your seat." He ordered, glaring towards Edward.

"Didn't you see what she did?" Edward asked, his eyes swinging back from Mr. Banner to Jessica.

"Miss Swan?" Mr. Banner asked, obviously ignoring Edward all together. "Is there something wrong?" He sounded annoyed, as if I was wasting his precious time.

"I just need to go to the nurse...I-uh slammed my wrist." I whispered, looking down at my notebook. Jessica released my wrist, feeling rushing back into my hand, when she finally realized that I hadn't let anything slip about her.

"Go." He simply stated, inclining his head towards the door. I rushed out, leaving my stuff behind as I headed for the nurse. I was halfway to the nurse when my knee began to stiffen back up, pain radiating from the center. With the help of the wall, I managed to make it to the nurse's office, the pain slamming painfully throughout my entire leg.

"Miss Swan? Are you alright?" The nurse asked, watching the way I clutched the door.

"I'm fine," I said, trying to smile despite the tears filling my eyes. "I think I need some ice for my wrist and knee." I said, sitting on one of the chairs.

"Sure, honey, just a minute. Rest up that knee." She whispered to me, distracted as she searched around for ice.

"Here, take these." She handed me a small cup of water and several tablets. "I probably shouldn't be giving you these, but you look like you're in some serious pain. Now, while those take effect, I'll check your wrist." She sat across from me, carefully taking a hold of my wrist.

"I don't think it's broken. I just heard it crack and then go numb." I whispered, wincing slightly when she lightly touched the spot when Jessica's hand had been. There were bruises beginning to show along my pale skin, clear imprints of Jessica's hand.

"Did someone do this to you?" She whispered, her eyes blazing as she looked up at me.

"Just someone in class." I whispered, looking away from her.

"Who?" She asked, continuing to look at me.

"It's nothing...really." I said, pressing the ice against my wrist.

"Fine, but it would appear that's its twisted. Just rest it for a little while, I'm surprised it didn't break when you so recently had it taken out of the cast." She said, refering to another recent run-in with Jessica.

"Thank you." I said, my voice drowned out by the bell tolling the end of class. "Can you make me a note so I won't get marked off in Gym?" I asked, not wanting to get detention for being late.

"Sure, I'll also write you a note to keep you from having to perform in Gym until you're fully healed." She said, turning in the chair towards the desk. She scribbled down a quick note, offering me help to my next class.

"Actually, that medicine is helping a lot I think I can make it to my last class." I said, smiling at her as I took the note and carefully walked out of the office. I was halfway down the quiet hall when I realized that I had actually left my stuff in Biology.

"Crap." I whispered, walking back towards my Biology class.

"Bella." Edward said, grabbing hold of my uninjured hand out of nowhere. I bit off a scream, still amazed over how he could do that.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" I whispered, looking down both sides of the hall.

"I wanted to know if you were alright." He said, slightly pressing close as I leaned against the wall.

"It's just twisted." I whispered, ruffled over how close he was. He carefully reached to take hold of my wrist, checking it carefully.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, so simply, placing a very soft kiss along my the inside of my wrist. My heartbeat accelerated so rapidly that it felt as if my knees would give out.

"It's not your fault." I said, looking him straight in the eyes.

"It would seem that my plan has backfired." He whispered, mere inches from me.

"It doesn't matter." I said, trying to figure out what Jessica and Lauren were planning next.

"I don't want to stay away from you anymore." He stated, leaning his cool forehead against mine.

"The past weekend was hell." I said, although I had fun being with Angela I still missed Edward.

"For me also." He said, his eyes taking on a mournful look. "I made something for you." He whispered, his face breaking out into a smile.

"You did?" I asked, wondering over what he could possibly give me.

"I was worried over you having nightmares, knowing that I couldn't be with you." Edward said, his hand running softly along my cheek. His other hand produced a CD, carefully holding it out to me.

"I recorded some of my compositions for you, some of the things I would hum to you while you fell asleep." He said, as I took the CD.

"Thank you." I whispered, knowing that it had been hard for me to fall asleep without him there.

"I would rather play them for you in person but this will have to do for now." Edward said, smiling yet his eyes were sad.

"It will be over soon." I whispered, trying to be hopeful. I didn't want to be seperated from Edward over people like Victoria, Jessica, and Lauren.

"I brought your stuff for you." He said, carefully placing my backpack over my left shoulder.

"Thank you, I was worried over leaving it." I shifted the backpack, knowing that I needed to get to class but I wasn't very eager to leave the close proximity of Edward.

"I'll be around as much as possible." He said, helping to calm my fears over losing him.

"But what about Victoria and everyone?" I asked, ignoring the whispering in the back of my head reminding me of the Volturi. No matter how much I tried, I couldn't elude that particular problem.

"I'll handle them." Edward said, his eyes blazing for a minute.

"I should get to class..." I whispered, still not wanting to leave.

"Alright." He said, stepping back from me. "Alice will be watching over Angela's house tonight while Jasper and I go hunting. I've sort of been neglecting that part of my nature lately."

"Okay." I nodded, remembering the warm gold his eyes had been in Biology. Now they were dark, quickly going to pitch black. "Do I really need to be watched over?"

"With Jessica's latest move, I don't trust them enough to leave you alone. It's hard to tell what they may do next." He said, obviously annoyed. I looked away from his face, noting that we were now in front of the Gym. I could hear the sounds of people playing numerous sports inside.

"Bye." I whispered, stepping away from him.

"Be careful, Bella." He said, before the door to the Gym shut between us.

--

"What are you up to, Bella?" Emmett asked, sitting down beside me on the bleachers. They way he plopped onto the seat made the entire row of bleachers shake and rattle.

"Bored, the nurse got me out of Gym for a while." I said, motioning towards my injured knee.

"Well I believe that that's good for you and everyone involved...less chance of you tripping over a ball and somehow setting the Gym on fire." He finished, breaking into a round of laughter. I blushed crimson, trying to control my own laughter.

"You have to admit...it could happen." He said, still laughing as he nudged my side.

"Okay, yeah it's possible." I said, laughing so hard my sides hurt.

"Alright, alright," I said, managing to control my laughter. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Got kicked out." He said, the serious look on his face had me believing him.

"Seriously?" I asked, wondering what Esme would do if she found out.

"No!" He laughed. "My teacher loves me too much."

"Teachers pet." I muttered, ignoring the way he laughed so loudly.

"It's not my fault!" He laughed, holding up his hands. "Women just can't resist my amazing charms."

"Oh, gee, yes, utterly amazing." I laughed, pretending to make goo-goo eyes at him.

"Since I would like to keep my arms attached to my body, I will get back to class." Emmett said, getting up from his seat.

"Edward wouldn't do anything like that." I laughed, noting the way he grinned sheepishly.

"It's not Edward I'm afraid of...it's Esme." Emmett said, walking away casually as I began to laugh. I had serious trouble imagining perfectly calm and peaceful Esme doing anything so drastic.

--

"Hey Angela." I called to her, seeing her walk by as I headed out of Gym.

"Hey Bella, I was just going to hang out with Ben for a while...you don't mind, do you?" She asked, trying not to look too hopeful.

"Have fun." I smiled, watching as she caught up with Ben. I was happy for Angela, because Ben was such a naturally nice guy.

"Bella!" Mike called, coming towards me quickly as I made my way to my truck.

"Hey Mike." I smiled as he caught up beside me.

"Yeah, I was wondering if you could take over working in my family's store today? I have a date with Jessica tonight." He said, smiling so widely at the thought.

"I guess." I stammered, worried about leaving Mike alone with Jessica.

"Thanks so much!" He called, running off in a different direction. Well, at least I had something to do with my time while Angela was gone, I was still too uncomfortable to stay at her house when she wasn't there. I got to my truck quickly, the moody clouds in the sky threatening rain like always as I pulled out of the parking lot.

--

"Hi, Ms. Newton." I called as I entered the sports shop.

"Oh, hi Bella." She called from behind the counter. "Is there any chance that my son is with you?"

"Actually he was going on a date and asked me to cover for him." I said, walking towards the counter.

"Oh, alright." She stepped to the side, her heals ringing throughout the store. "Where this, and it won't be long. We're only going to be open for another hour maybe. Business is slow today." She smiled, handing me a vest to wear.

"Thanks." I slipped the vest on, running to my truck quickly so I could drop off my jacket.

"Is there anything you need me to do?" I asked, stepping back through the front of the store.

"It would be great if you could clean aisles...it's usually Mike's job before closing." She seemed hesitant to ask.

"Sure." I said, used to having to do lots of chores, at least when I had lived with Victoria. She handed over a mop, the bucket of water filled with soap smelled like apples.

"Alright, I'll be in the back of the store. Just call me if you need any help." She said, heading towards a door in the back. I set off to work on aisle one, beginning to scrub the entire length clean.

--

I was almost done with aisle 3 when the bell signaled that a new customer had entered.

"Ms. Newton? We have a customer." I called, continuing with the scrubbing.

"Can you handle that, Bella? I'm sort of busy back here." She called, her voice slightly muffled from the door.

"Sure." I called, standing up slowly. I brushed my clothes slightly, hoping I didn't look too hopeless. I stared at the ground as I walked around the counter, looking up at the customer standing there.

"Hi, Cinderbella." Lauren said, her smile looking like that of a predator.

"Hello Lauren." I said, slightly staggered. I wasn't expecting to see her, amazed that I had only seen her once since they had moved back.

"I'm going to take a look around if that's alright." She said, smiling so widely as she turned and walked down one of the freshly polished aisles.

"Woops!" Lauren mocked, shortly after a loud spill rang through the store. I groaned, slowly stepping towards the aisle.

"What did you do?!" I yelled, seeing the dark splotch of black paint marring the clean aisle. There was a long trail winding around, perfectly matching the shape of Lauren's heels.

"It was an accident." She called, sounding perfectly innocent as Mike's mother came running around the corner.

"It's fine, Miss." She said, smiling at Lauren's fakingly sweet face. "Bella, if you could take care of this while I help our customer." She sounded as if she was scolding me, as I went to work scrubbing out the paint before it dried.

"So sorry, Bella." Lauren sneered, her perfectly silver blonde hair waving behind her as she walked past. I wasn't paying attention as I reached up and caught a long strand of it, the oilyu black paint smeering along her hair.

"Oh my God!" I called, trying to sound as if I was on the verge of tears. "I'm _so_ sorry, Lauren!" I pretended to try to wipe off the paint, smearing more of the thick black paint into her hair and clothes.

"Damn it!" She screeched, her hand reaching out and slamming into the side of my cheek. I fell back, my shoulder sliding into the thick paint. My cheek was completely numb, feeling as if a frozen rock had slammed into it.

"Miss, I need you to get out!" Mike's mom called, glaring heavily at Lauren. Lauren stood straight, stomping so loudly out of the store.

"Bella? Are you alright?" Mike's mom asked, carefully helping me stand up.

"I'm fine." I whispered, my entire cheek was vibrating now with pain.

"You can go now if you want, I'll just make Mike do the rest when he gets back." She said, smiling at me.

"Alright." I said, taking off the paint covered vest and heading towards the door.

"Thanks for your help, Bella." She said, following me towards the door.

"If you ever need any help again, you can just call me. I actually like having something interesting to do." I said as I waved to her quickly. I jumped into my truck and pulled away, looking at my cheek in the rearview mirror. It was bright red, the edges darkening. I drove along the rain-slick road, deciding to stop at the flowershop quickly. There was something that I needed to do before I went to Angela's house.

**Sorry I had to end it right there! I had to add some Lauren in...she is suppose to be the other evil stepsister!**


	16. In My Arms

**I do not own Twilight…**

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!!**

**I'll try to update more but AP tests are coming up May 8th!!**

**Chapter 16 **

I drove along the road, somewhat hesitant of where I was going. There was still light overhead, even though it was heavily filtered from the clouds.

"It's fine, Bella. Nothing's going to jump out at you." I whispered to myself, parking into an open spot. I grabbed a hold of the bundle of roses beside me, shaking slightly over going to the cemetary. I finally took the plunge and stepped out of my truck, the echo of the slamming door ringing through the silent cemetary.

I walked quietly through the heavily green courtyard, easily finding the headstone I was looking for, the name _Charlie Swan_ etched across the top perfectly. The Forks Officer badge carefully etched within the stonework had been Victoria's only concession, even refusing to bury him beside my mother. I placed the roses down in the small stand, the wind howling through the trees made me shudder.

"Hi, dad." I whispered, feeling slightly odd. I continued to talk, randomly, saying everything that had gone on, even what Victoria was and what she had said she had done to my mother. I went on to tell him about Edward, my voice going soft, wondering what it would have been like if Edward had met Charlie...probably awkward. I laughed to myself, looking down at my watch. It had been over an hour, my legs were completely numb from standing for so long. I stepped away, the sky having gone completely black. I walked off to my truck, feeling better somehow.

--

The ride to Angela's house wasn't so horrible, the streets were dry for the first time in a while. I pulled up, seeing Angela standing in front of the window. I hurried up the sidewalk towards the door, the frigid wind blowing through my shirt.

"Hi Angela." I called to her, smiling as I walked through the door.

"Hi Bella." She smiled, turning towards me slightly. "Wow, what happened to you?" She asked, her eyes going wide as she looked at my paint covered clothes.

"Bit of an accident at Newton's store." I said, smiling at the memory, although the action made my cheek sting painfully.

"What happened to your cheek?" She asked, taking a closer look.

"Lauren slapped me." I whispered, turning my face aside as she followed me up the stairs.

"She did? Why?" She asked, continueing to follow me through the room where I was staying.

"I may have possibly smeared black oil paint through her precious hair." I said, acting innocent. The sight of Angela cracking up made me start.

"I would have paid to see that." She smiled, managing to stop laughing long enough.

"Yeah, Mike's mom kicked her out as soon as she hit me." I said, pulling out pajamas to change into.

"I'll go get you some ice while you change. That mark looks pretty bad." She said, hurrying out of the room and shutting the door for me. I tried scrubbing off the paint, but decided that a shower was needed to get rid of the excess paint clinging to my shoulder.

--

Angela knocked on my door while I was braiding my wet hair, opening the door so she could slip through.

"I brought you some food too, you look pretty famished." She said, setting a bowl of noodles in front of me.

"Angela, thanks so much...you didn't have to do that." I smiled, pressing the pack of ice to my cheek. "So how did things go with Ben?" I asked, the cold from the pack numbing my cheek.

"It was so amazing, Bella!" She smiled, her cheeks turning soft pink.

"What did you guys do?" I asked, raising an eyebrow jokingly.

"We just talked...for over an hour." She said, obviously half in love with him already.

"Are you guys hanging out again?" I asked, thinking that they were such a cute couple.

"Yeah, but this time we're going to dinner." She smiled widely, obviously excited.

"That's so cool, Angela." I smiled, happy for her.

"You look like you're ready to pass out, so I'll just let you sleep." She whispered, her cell phone clutched in her hand.

"Are you going to call Ben?" I asked, as she headed for the door.

"No, but he said he was going to call." She smiled, dancing out the door. She shut it quietly as I heard a phone ring from the other side of the door.

I ate the noodles quickly, my eyelids drooping in the process. I was tired, extremely so. The entire day was wearing on me so suddenly. I lay back, my cheek resting against the ice pack as I fell asleep.

--

I was curling against the covers, something cold within the room making me shiver. Warm lips pressed against my bruised cheek, so light that I didn't even really notice. I opened my eyes slowly, staring into the warm gold ones of Edward.

"Your lips were warm." I said, slightly amazed by it.

"Only because your cheek is nearly frozen solid." He laughed, trying to cover the hint of worry in his tone. "What happened?"

"Managed to get into another fight with a wicked vampire step-sister." I laughed, trying to act nonchalant.

"Which one?" He gritted out between his teeth.

"Lauren...but I managed to get that really horrible black oil paint all through her pale blond hair." I said, trying to lighten the subject.

"Bella, only you would dare to provoke a young vampire." He laughed, but the sound was somewhat forced.

"I just lost my temper." I whispered, not used to being angry.

"That must be a frightening thing." He laughed honestly now, wrapping a blanket around me to keep me warm.

"Well, I'll be able to get a kick out of the trouble she's probably having with getting that stuff out of her hair. It's like sludge! I had to throw away the clothes I was wearing earlier because of it." I said, looking at the faint gray paint marks marring my skin.

"Try to be more careful." He whispered fiercely, his hand running along my bruised cheek. It was warming up again, the effects of the ice wearing off.

"I'll try but no promises...I am who I am after all." I laughed, remebering where I was, I tried to quiet my laughter. "By the way, how did you get in here?"

"The window, except the window in here is locked so I came in through a window in the hall." He said, shrugging. I stretched up towards the window, my wrist lightly stinging, I unlocked the window quickly.

"There, now you'll have an easier exit." I laughed quietly. "What happened? I thought you would be out all night."

"We stayed close, I wasn't very excited over having to leave. Emmett was complaining the entire time of how I was moping." He said, his golden eyes glowing.

"What time is it?" I asked, looking around for any signs of a clock.

"Around 1 a.m." He said, without having to consult a clock. "You should actually get some more sleep, you look very tired." He said, his thumbs running under my eyes, near the dark shadows there.

"Everyone keeps saying that." I rolled my eyes. "I'm not really tired anymore."

"Well, try to get some sleep. We have an important day tomorrow." He said, causing my heart to skip a beat.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Biology test." He laughed, watching my face fall.

"That wasn't nice." I whispered, glowering at him darkly.

"I'm a vampire," He laughed, his eyes glowing again. "When is it ever my duty to be nice?" I glared at him, rolling over and covering my head with a sheet.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. It wasn't very nice." He smiled, looking completely unrepentant.

"It doesn't work if you smile the entire time." I said, my voice muffled by the sheet. Thankfully he couldn't see the fact that I was smiling under the cover, trying not to laugh.

"Okay, fine. I'm sorry." He said, managing to keep a straight face the entire time.

"Alright." I smiled, sticking my tongue out at him.

"Where's that CD? I could play it for you so that you can fall asleep." He said, searching around for it.

"I'll get it." I called, managing to wrap myself up in the blanket. I tried to shift out of the bed, managing to fall over the side. The loud thump from my fall echoed throughout the house.

"Are you alright?" Edward asked, quickly helping me up.

"Yeah, did I wake anyone up?" I asked, hearing footsteps.

"Yes." He whispered, ducking quickly out of the window. I slipped back into the bed, pulling the covers back up so that it looked as if I was sleeping still. Angela's dad wlaked through the door carefully, checking the room quickly before shrugging and walking back out.

"Edward?" I asked, not sure whether he was truly gone.

"I'm here." He said, pulling himself easily back through the window. "I found the CD too." He smiled, holding up the shiny disk.

"Where was it?" I asked, believing that I had left it in my backpack.

"It was in your truck." He walked through the room lightly, the wooden floor making no noise. He placed the cd within a CD player next to me, turning the volume up as high as possible so the music played through the headphones.

"Is this for me?" I asked, tears filling my eyes as the soft piano music played through the room.

"I wrote it for you." He smiled, his arms circling around me.

"It's what you always hummed to me when I fell asleep at your house." I smiled, my eyes closing softly.

"It's your lullaby." He said, humming along with the soft music I was I fell asleep.

--

I woke up quickly, my alarm clock chiming the hour. I looked around quickly, nothing seemed different, Edward had left no clue that he had been there. I heard Angela's alarm from the down the hall, I could even hear her slam her hand into it to shut it off as I finally managed to yank myself up from bed. I dressed quickly, too tired to really care over what I had on.

"Angela, are you going to need a ride today?" I asked, watching as she walked down the hall towards me.

"No, Ben's picking me up." She said, smiling at the thought.

"Cool." I smiled, flexing my wrist as I bent to pick up my backpack. My wrist wasn't hurting anymore, the pain disappearing almost immediately. "Do you want me to wait outside with you until he gets here?" I asked.

"No, he's actually here already." She smiled, practically running out of the front door. I watched them leave through the window, deciding to wait a little while before heading to school.

"Hi, Bella." Ms. Weber called from the front room. "Do you mind if we talk for a little bit?" I stepped back slightly, recognizing a sickeningly familiar car pull up in front of the house. I stepped away from the window, my stomach making small terrifying flips.

"Hello." I whispered, my eyes downcast.

"I talked to your mother Victoria." She said, already alluding to what was to come.

"Step-mother." I muttered, believing that I would make that destinction forever.

"She wants you back at home, claiming that she never gave you permission to leave." I shuddered, hearing the doorbell. Ms. Weber stepped away, opening the door with a bright welcome. I already knew who was on the other side, what I would have to face. A cold slim arm wrapped around my shoulders, pretending to offer comfort.

"I'm sorry, Bella. But I'm going to have to send you home with your mother." She said, smiling as she saw Victoria tighten her arm. To Ms. Weber, it probably looked like a hug, but to me it was a clear warning to keep silent.

"Alright." I sid, trying to force a smile that just wouldn't come.

"Do you need help with your things?" Victoria asked sweetly, pretending to be the caring, loving Step-mother.

"No." I said, hurrying out of the room. I shoved all my things inside my bag, my phone vibrating beside me with Alice's name flashing across it. Of course she would have already seen this coming. I came back down the hall, shutting my phone off as I walked. I knew Victoria would be quick to take it away, seeing it always made her mad.

"Ready?" Victoria smiled, her voice sounding perfectly girly. I nodded, watching as she turned to smile fully at Ms. Weber. "Thank you so much for taking care of her, I just never expected her to leave home with that Cullen Boy." She said, the last part coming out like a sneer.

"Bye Bella. Visit Angela anytime." Ms. Weber smiled, obviously deluding herself into believing that kicking me out was for my own good.

--

"Am I still allowed to go to school?" I asked, sitting beside Victoria in the small sports car.

"We'll go today." She smiled, I glared out the window, watching as Jessica drove my truck behind us. I knew Victoria's temper, and I knew, with how quiet and cheerful she was being, that she was furious. I was never scared of upsetting her, of course that had been when I was with Edward, no longer having to fear what would happen when I came home to see Victoria.

"I won't apologize." I whispered, refusing to feel sorry for everything that had happened. I heard her hands grind against the steering wheel, her hands becoming even more pale with the tension.

"I'm going to pull you out of that school." She whispered, her voice vibrating with anger. "I will drag you out of this damn state if you continue to stop listening to me."

"You don't scare me anymore." I said, managing to get angry myself. She laughed brightly, her red hair moving as she shook her head.

"Bella," She smiled, her black/red eyes sending chills up my spine. "You haven't even seen what I'm capable of." I shifted away, knowing that the black in her eyes indicated that she was hungry, and the red practically screamed that she drank from humans.

"I don't care." I continued, knowing that I was deliberately proviking a monster.

"Neither did you mother...look what happened to her." She smiled, her bright white teeth clearly telling me what she meant. My skin paled even more, tears filling my eyes as I rested my face against the window. I gave up, completely hopeless as Forks High School drifted past the window.

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!! **


	17. Empty Room

**I do not own Twilight...**

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!!**

**Chapter 17**

My head was resting against the cool window as we stopped outside my former house. The house I had grown up in, the house that looked like a prison to me now. I grabbed my bag and followed the sidewalk slowly up to the house, not quite so eager to be locked within its walls again.

"We hope you like our changes to your room." Lauren smiled, heading out the door with a purse over her shoulder. She jumped into a new looking car, waiting as Jessica walked over and jumped in.

"Are they still going to school?" I asked, flabbergasted.

"Of course." Victoria smiled, grabbing a hold of my bag and throwing it into the closet. I stepped away from her, heading for the stairs that usually led up to my room. I gave up completely on my bag, knowing that Victoria would probably not let me have it back.

"No..." I whispered to myself, tears filling my eyes as I noticed what they had done to my room. Everything had been stripped bare, except the bed. The bed was still covered in an old grey comforter, the comforter that used to belong to my dad. Everything else was gone, every picture, every poster, everything that had belonged to my parents. All that was left over in my closet was a few old pairs of black jeans and some plain t-shirts, t-shirts that were all almost ten sizes too big. I ignored the dark grey paint coloring the walls, no longer caring as I curled on the only thing that was still familiar. My small twin size bed.

--

"Come on, get up." Victoria called, her hand slamming against my door. I jumped awake, my head hitting the headboard of my bed. I rubbed my head slightly, the pain ebbing as I stood up and walked towards the door.

"Where are we going?" I asked, hesitating as I came into view of the hall.

"School." Victoria called, her voice cold.

"Alright." I whispered, checking on my powered off phone in my pocket. I came downstairs into view, pulling on an old jacket that had been thrown in the back of my closet.

"Come on." Victoria whined, pulling me along by the elbow to her car. I jumped in, deciding that it wouldn't be wise to fight with her again after earlier.

"I have no choice, do I?" I asked, tears gathering in my eyes.

"No." She scolded, speeding her car down the street.

"Did I ever have a choice?" I whispered, the tears running softly down my cheeks.

"In what?" She asked, rolling her eyes as she looked at me.

"In you targeting my family...my mother...my fath-father." I choked out, continuing to stare out the window as the tears turned to silent sobs.

"You never mattered." She smiled, her words turning my blood cold. I scrubbed my eyes quickly as she pulled into the parking lot, knowing that the redness and swelling would still show.

"Why didn't you just kill me too?" I asked, watching as she stepped out of the parked car, opening my door to drag me out with her.

"Where would the fun be in that?" She asked, so sweetly. I stepped out of the car, heading away from her as fast as possible, still trying to dry my eyes with the sleeves of my jacket.

"Hello." I said, greeting the receptionist as I walked through the office door, Victoria trailing closely. I tried to cound cheerful but it broke halfway through, tears welling up yet again.

"Hello Miss. Swan." She said, smiling. She tried to cover it, but the worry was uppermost in her eyes.

"Hi, we have an appointment with the principal." Victoria smiled, easily fooling the receptionist. She waved us on towards the Principal's cramped office, where two students were already waiting on the outside. Victoria merely glided in, pushing past the closed and sitting down perfectly at ease.

"Hello Bella, Mrs. Swan." He said, motioning towards each of us. I hated when people referred to Victoria in anyway towards my father, she seemed like a black stain further marring my father's reputation.

"We're here to discuss Bella's withdrawal into Independent Study from home. As we discussed over the phone." She smiled, looking towards me and then back towards the Principal.

"Is this what you want, Bella?" He asked, eyes turning to towards mine. I kept my face down, knowing that my puffy red eyes would give too much away.

"Of course it's what she wants, she's been hounding me night and day over it." Victoria laughed, her face splitting into a sickeningly pleasent smile.

"Okay, well Bella we'll need you to go to each of your teachers today and have them sign you out. I think you know how the process goes. You can start on that now and I'll have a chat with your mother." He said, shoving a paper into my hands. I stepped out of the room, ignoring Victoria's protests over me being alone where the Cullens would undoubtedly be. I quickly filled out my classes, writing down the names of each teacher, all that I would need now was their signature.

--

I managed to make it through my first several classes, ignoring the way people stared. The bruise along my cheek had darkened, looking horrible against my pale skin. They were probably all placing wagers of whether I would stay away for good or not. I waited outside the door of my next-to-last class, biology. My period of the class was in session, Mr. Banner going through a long lecture. I opened the door quickly, stepping into the room. I hated being caught in front of everyone, and of course at that exact time everyone was staring at me as if I had grown a third eye.

"Hello, Miss. Swan." Mr. Banner said, taking the sheet from my hand and signing it. I looked over and saw Jessica smiling in the back and ground my teeth, she always seemed to be smiling now, but the smile was more predatory. I quietly walked back out of the classroom, catching sight of the look of confusion on Edward's face as he turned towards Jessica. I hurried down the hall towards Gym, my chest hurting over the look that had been in Edward's eyes.

"Hey Bells!" Lauren called out as I stepped through the Gym door, her freezing arm sliding around my neck in a "hug." I fought off the urge to keep from slinking away from her, knowing that there was no where I could hide now. I shuddered from both the cold and her use of the nickname that my father had used for me. The Coach/teacher signed my note quickly, obviously annoyed with being interrupted.

"How's it going little sister?" Lauren asked, smiling as she peered at the bruise marring my cheek.

"Leave me alone." I hissed, ducking away from her arm. The cold coming off her skin was nothing like the reassuring cold that always came off Edward's skin.

"See you at home." She smiled, whispering into my ear. I shuddered again, dodging out the gym door. I was so close to bursting into tears that my throat clogged, my lip trembling.

"Bella!" Edward called, catching up suddenly beside me.

"There was nothing I could do." I whispered, staring resolutely at the ground. "She cornered Angela's mom and I ended up being sent home with Victoria."

"Let's leave now. I'll take care of you, keep you from them." He said, pulling me to a halt.

"Like that worked so perfectly before?" I asked, bitterness seeping into my tone as I remembered the true reason I had so willingly left.

"I never saw this coming." He whispered, his voice melancholy.

"Neither did I." I sighed, my forehead falling against his unmoving chest.

"We'll figure this out." Edward said, his hand working it's way into my hair.

"I need to get back, Victoria is probably timing me." I whispered, my voice slightly muffled by his shirt.

"I'll look after you." He said, setting me away from him.

"I know." I said, squeezing his hand one last time as I stepped around the corner towards the office.

--

Victoria was glaring through the blinds on one of the windows, her bright hair clearly visible from where I paused for a minute. I stepped forward, noticing the way her foot was clicking on the linoleum.

"Sorry," I said as I walked through the door. "One of the teachers needed an explanation." I whispered, her eyes glaring at me through her thick sunglasses.

"Fine, pick up your work and lets go." She said, pushing through the front door of the office. I stepped away, heading towards the pile of work that rested beside the receptionist.

"We'll be missing you, Bella." She whispered, frowning as she handed over the work.

"I'll try to re-enroll for the next year." I smiled sadly. "I'll see you next week." I whispered, heading through the office door as she waved.

"So why were you really late?" Victoria asked, shoving off the sunglasses she was wearing. Her eyes were dark, a deep red edging the rims.

"I spoke to Lauren for a bit in Gym and as I said, one of the teachers wanted an explanation over why I was leaving." I whispered, frustrated as she spun out of the parking lot, my shoulder slamming into the door with the force of the jolt.

"Fine." She said, slamming the accelerator.

"Uh...home's that way." I called out, pointing down one of the familiar streets that she sped past.

"We're going to Port Angeles." She said, accelerating further as we merged onto the freeway.

"Why?" I asked, irritation flooding my voice.

"It's not like you have anything else to do." She smiled, the sarcastic tilt annoying me.

"Homework." I said, shoving the thumb towards the stack in the backseat.

"Oh just shut it." She hissed, clearly annoyed as she continued speeding down the highway, the lights of Port Angeles showing through the fog.

--

"Why would I need these?" I asked, changing back into my jeans and t-shirt.

"Just because." Victoria said, sliding a dark chocolate silk dress over her arm. The dress was beautiful, the simple skirt twirling around my knees. I followed along beside her, suspicious over what she could be planning. "Oh, and this," She pulled out a soft cream colored coat. "These too!" She grinned, pulling out a pair of perfectly matching chocolate colored heels.

"What are you doing?" I demanded, annoyed with whatever she was doing.

"Nothing." She smiled, ringing up everything on a credit card. She seemed so exuberant, her excitement bordering on crazy.

"Can we go back now?" I asked, holding the bags as she pushed them towards me.

"Yes, I have some chores for you to do at home along with your homework." She said, jumping into the front seat of the car. I could tell that things would be going back to normal, chores and homework fully taking up whatever life I had left. Except things were different now, Edward had worked his way into my life.

--

We arrived back to the house quickly, thanks, in part, to Victoria's psychotically fast driving. I grabbed a hold of my bags, rushing towards my room as soon as I entered the house. I dropped the large stack of homework on my bed, watching as the stack flew half up into the air before settling back down.

"Bella?" Victoria called from below stairs.

"Yes?" I asked, not bothering to open the door.

"Lauren is going to need to borrow your truck when she gets home." She said, closer to my door now then she had been before.

"Doesn't she have a car?" I asked, not quite able to keep the hostility from my voice.

"She blew a tire the other day." Victoria said, clearly annoyed over having to explain herself.

"Fine." I whispered, knowing that Lauren would probably find a way to damage my truck in some way. She had no care for other peoples things. I shoved the pile of papers of to the side, deciding that I had too much time to do it, and lay back against my bed, dozing off in the bright light shining through my window.

--

I woke back up slowly, my head pounding horribly. No light was shining through my window anymore, full night having decended while I slept. I stood up from my curled position, my muscles stiff from staying in the same position for so long. My bedroom door was wide open, a soft light from the hall casting its way into my room, I walked through, limping slightly from my knee. I walked down the stairs, noticing how utterly vacant the entire house was, just like it had been before I had met Edward and Victoria and her daughters had been gone.

I figured that they must have left, possibly hunting. That thought made me shudder, knowing that they didn't hunt like Edward, they hunted humans. I limped my way into the kitchen, hoping against hope that they would have some sort of food or pain medication. I opened the refrigerator, unsurprised that it was completely empty, I shuffled through the cupboards realixing that they were empty also. I sat back in one of the chairs beside the table, trying to ignore the loud rumbling of my stomach in the darkened kitchen. I rested my head on the cool table, trying to focus on something other then my pounding head or my throbbing knee. A soft knocking on the backdoor had me standing up painfully to answer. Edward stood in the doorway, a heavy grocery bag easily held in one of his hands.

"Is that for me?" I asked, wincing as my headache came back into focus.

"No, I'm just decided to take up eating like a normal human." He said, shrugging as he began to crack up over the crestfallen look that came in over my face. "Yes, of course they're for you. Alice had me come over with them, probably seeing how hungry you would be." He said, running upstairs and dropping the back off onto my bed.

"Thank you." I smiled, slightly dizzy as he came back into view in front of me.

"Let me check your knee." He said, waiting as I sat back onto the chair. He pulled my knee up, the cold of his skin helping to stop the throbbing.

"How is it?" I asked, not wanting to look as he checked over the bruised and damaged shin.

"It's healing better, but Alice threw in some Tylenol just in case it was still stiff or hurting." He said, smiling as he carefully set my knee back down.

"Did you just come over from your home?" I asked, looking up at him.

"No, I've been watching outside. Alice and everyone else are going to keep watch over you, none of us trust Victoria, Jessica, or Lauren." He said, his head swinging back towards the door.

"What is it?" I asked, looking out one of the windows where he watched.

"Alice is just telling me something." He said, bending over carefully and picking me up out of the chair. "Victoria and the others will be back soon."

"Oh." I whispered, not wanting him to leave as he carefully set me down on the bed.

"I won't be far." He said, his cool hand running along the side of my face.

"I know." I said, still hating the idea of him leaving.

"Try to keep out of sight of them...Alice hasn't seen anything but Lauren and Jessica are still young vampires, they're still very dangerous." Edward said, looking into my eyes to make sure I understood.

"I'll stay out of sight." I said, smiling at him as he nodded slowly.

"I'll be close by." He said, checking quickly before ducking out of the room and out of the house. I leaned back against the bed, peering over at the bagful of groceries. Several of the labels appealed to me, but the one that brought me upright was the bottle of tylenol, practically calling out to me. My knee was throbbing horribly as I took several of the pills, them down with a bottle of water.

"Thank you, Alice." I smiled, pulling out a boxed up caeser salad along with a cut up sandwich. I gulped them down quickly, eating so rapidly so I could appease my throbbing stomach. The tylenol began to take effect half-way through, making me drowsy as my knee began to numb. I stood up, dizzy on my feet as I worked my way towards my starkly empty closet, I grabbed a hold of a pair of ragged old pajamas. The pajamas were old, formerly belonging to my father before he had died, the same pair I had worn continuously after he had died. I curled up as a door slammed belowstairs, uncaring of whoever had arrived home.

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!!**


	18. Keep Breathing

**I do not awn Twilight...**

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!!!**

**OMG!! Thank you again to everyone who reviewed Chapter 16 and 17!!! You people truly made my day!**

**Chapter 18**

I jumped up suddenly from my bed as someone walked into my room, my bedroom door slamming against the wall. "What!?" I asked, startled so suddenly .

"Who was here?" Victoria asked, her red hair streaming behind her.

"No one." I whispered, seeing the bright red of her eyes.

"A vampire was here." She said, her nose flared. I had never seen her look more like an animal.

"No." I said, trying to keep from stammering. The anger in her eyes terrified me.

"Don't lie." She glared, her bare feet launching forward slightly.

"He was only here for a minute to check on me...there was nothing here." I said, so close to tears that my throat felt painfully swollen.

"What do you mean?" She spat out, her eyes squinting dangerously.

"I'm human...there was no food, not even pain medication for my knee and wrist." I said, scooting away from her towards the back wall my bed lay against.

"And who do you have to blame for those injuries?" Victoria asked, her head tilting to the side, her bright red hair streaming past her shoulder.

"Your daughters." I whispered, noting the way her nose flared at my answer.

"Excuse me?" She asked, stepping ever closer.

"My fault." I murmured, hating the way I had to back down so pitifully.

"Whose?" She asked, her face tilting to the other side.

"Mine!" I yelled out, ignoring the way my head pounded in return.

"Good." She smiled, clearly showing me her bright perfect teeth...no doubt lethal. "We'll go to the store tomorrow...might as well keep the human fed." She murmured, leaving the room rapidly. I winced painfully as the door slammed closed, echoing in the awkward silence. I was no longer tired, the freakish confrontation leaving me wide awake. I shifted myself off the bed, moving slowly towards the edge until my feet touched the cold flooring. I grabbed part of the stack of homework, deciding that homework seemed better to waste time with then sleeping.

--

I looked up from the stack of math homework in front of me, pale light sweeping through my bedroom window.

"Crap." I whispered to myself, my eyes tired and blurry from looking at all my homework for so long. I had gotten nearly everything done, the large stack to the side of my thigh completely done. The looming pile of math homework had me shifting uncomfortably where I sat. I knew how much I hated math and the large stack in front of me left me feeling helpless. I stood up slowly, listening to the loud noises my muscles were making due to my sitting in one position for so long. I walked slowly towards the kitchen, truly realizing how stiff my whole body was. The cold flooring beneath my bare feet didn't help anything.

"Good morning, Cinderbella." Lauren called, her nasal voice breaking through the silence in the house.

"Hello Lauren." I said, peering over at the clock alongside the oven. It was a few minutes past 6 a.m., leaving me to wonder whether I should call Angela or not. "Where's Victoria?" I asked, looking over at Lauren who sat in one of the plain chairs.

"Dealing with one of Jessica's problem." She hissed, obviously annoyed with both Jessica and Victoria. "I need you to fill up my car." She said, throwing over the keys to her disgustingly expensive car.

"I thought it had a flat tire." I stated, looking over at her as she shrugged.

"Jessica got someone to fix it for me." She smirked, standing up and sauntering outside of the room. "Jessica needs you to fill her car also...so don't take too long." I rested my elbows against the table, my head falling into my hands. I heard the phone ringing from far off, wondering whether I had dozed off while I sat there. I looked around, the light was shining more steadily through the window. I stood up, grabbing a hold of the phone from where it lay.

"Hello?" I asked, my voice coming out in a croak.

"Oh Bella, I'm so sorry about my mom! I tried to reason with her but she said it was none of our business." Angela said, sounding so guilty over the phone.

"It's fine Angela." I said, trying to smile. "I'm fine here, I'm just back on independent study." I whispered, trying not to sound too whiny.

"I'm so sorry." Angela said, sounding even more guilty.

"Angela! It's fine, stop worrying about me." I laughed, amazed over how hollow I sounded.

"I found your CD, do you want me to stop by before school?" She asked, bringing to mind the fact that I had left the CD that Edward had made for me.

"Actually, could you come over after school? I have my math homework left over and I thought that maybe we can work on it or something." I realized how much I actually missed Angela, her shy cheerfulness always made me feel welcomed.

"Sure, I'll bring the CD then." She said, her voice rising over her mother's talking in the backround.

"Cool," I smiled, ignoring Lauren who stood beside me jingling her keys. "Bye Angela."

"Again Bella, I'm really sorry." She said, the guilty edge working back into her tone.

"Seriously Angela, it's fine." I laughed, snatching the keys from Lauren's hand with a glare.

"Alright, bye Bella." She called, her mother's voice getting louder in the backround.

"Bye Angela." I whispered, quickly hanging up the phone.

"Aw, how sweet! Cinderbella's finally got herself a friend!" Lauren sneered, obviously ignoring the fact that I had lived with the Cullens.

"Uh, Lauren? You might want to get your sunglasses...you're looking a little demonic today." I said, waving towards her eyes. She screeched lightly, slamming a pair of expensive sunglasses over her bright red eyes.

"Just go take care of our damn cars." She hissed, snatching me by the arm and hurling me towards the open doorway.

"Wow...Lauren what an annoyingly nasal voice you have." I smiled, knowing that I was messing with fire. She rushed after me, heading directly for the bright splotch of sunlight where I stood.

"Lauren, stop!" Victoria yelled out, her blood red eyes wide. "Stay away from the sun." She hissed, hauling Lauren back towards the house by her elbow. Lauren snapped her teeth towards me, knowing that I would understand her threat. I caught sight of the look in Victoria's eyes and ducked towards Lauren's car, losing my feelings of rebellion. I started Lauren's car, amazed over how uncaring they were about the attention they attracted.

Lauren's car was ridiculous in a small town like Forks, even the Cullens knew not to drive around in overtly flashy things. Lauren's car was flashy to the extreme, the Ferrari colored vividly in a metallic blue. The car was ridiculous but no where near as ridiculous as Jessica's pink Audi. The pink color was honor-bound to draw attention. I carefully pulled out of the driveway, nervous within Lauren's Ferrari. I drove towards the Forks gas station, trying to keep at a modest speed limit. The car was nothing like my truck, the tiniest tap sent it hurling forward. I managed to make it to the gas station, a crowd in front of the small store staring curiously at me.

"Hi, Bella...new car?" A man asked, his police uniform leaving me to wonder whether Charlie had known him.

"It's my step-sisters." I said, quickly paying and shoving a gas cap within the car.

"Bella." Edward said, somehow standing beside me.

"Shouldn't you be on your way to school?" I asked, slightly breathless. I knew it was a slightly stupid question but my mind was blank at that moment.

"I said I would watch over you." He said, leaning towards me slightly. The men slightly gathered in front of the car coughed and stepped away, slightly blushing as they watched us.

"I have to fill up their cars." I shrugged, pulling the gas cap out of Lauren's tank.

"What you did this morning was dangerous. What were you thinking?" He seemed frustrated, his darkened eyes staring into mine.

"I was just frustrated...and I sort of felt like rebelling I guess." I whispered, looking down towards my feet.

"I understand that every teenager feels the need to rebel...but please Bella, try not rebel against a young vampire." He whispered, glaring over at a man beside Lauren's car.

"What is he thinking?" I asked, honestly curious.

"You don't want to know." He hissed slightly, his shoulder shielding me from the man's eyes.

"Oh." I glared over at the man quickly, ducking within Lauren's car. Edward kneeled in front of the open door, carefully looking towards me.

"I have to go hunting tonight...please, try not to get into too much trouble." He whispered, keeping his voice soft so only I could hear.

"Angela's coming over after she gets out of school, I'll be working on Math all night." I laughed. "I'll try to stay safe from the dreaded math homework."

"Ha...ha...ha. With you, it's bound to be a danger." He laughed, losing some of his cautious edge.

"Hey! It's not pick on poor Bella day." I frowned, trying to keep from smiling.

"Aw! But that's my favorite day." He smiled, leaning a hand against my cheek.

"You should go." I whispered, noticing the numerous school buses heading past the gas station.

"I know." He shrugged, sighing as he stood up. "Please be careful."

"Oh, what a hassle." I laughed, unrolling the window as I shut the door.

"For you Bella, it is." He said, smiling down towards me.

"I know. I know, we already went over how accident prone I am." I laughed, carefully starting the car and pulling away. I still had to fill Jessica's car with gas. I looked in the mirror towards where Edward had been standing but he had already gone, the silver Volvo heading towards school.

--

"Finally!" Jessica hissed, grabbing hold of her keys as I walked through the door. It hadn't taken long to fill Jessica's car with gas, but the distractions at the gas station with Edward had made me slightly late in her eyes.

"Sorry." I whispered, dragging my feet as I headed for the stairs. I caught sight of my bed and launched towards it, dozing off as I lay there.

-~-~-

"Bella." The voice was so quite, slightly slurred as it hit my ears. I was tired, so tired, as I lay there. The black asphalt beneath me felt as if it was scratching against my face, the damp street so real. I knew I was dreaming, I had had this dream so many times before. A green light was playing along the black street, slowly switching from green to yellow and eventually red. "Bella." The voice called again, more clear.

"Dad." I whispered, pulling myself up from where I lay. The sky was dark overhead, the moon barely peaking through the rain clouds.

"Look, Bells." He said, standing above me. He looked the same as the day he had died, his officer's uniform bringing back painful memories long forgotten.

"What?" I snapped, noticing the cars driving by. "I don't want to see it again." I fought back tears, knowing what was going to come next.

"Don't listen to her, Bells. You know she's lying...there's no one." He begged, his familiar mustache shaping above a frown.

"Who?" I asked, seeing one of the traffic lights turning red.

"Victoria, don't listen." He said, flinching as he caught sight of the bus heading towards the green light...so painfully slow. "You warned me once and I refused to listen...you're my daughter, and I chose her above you." His eyes, so much like mine, were misting over.

"Dad...it's alright." I whispered, the tears spilling over as the bus continued forward.

"No, it's not. I was manipulated and I'm begging you, don't listen." He continued, his hands gripping my upper arms painfully. "Run...run far. She's a liar, no one is coming Bella." I couldn't understand what he was referring to.

"I don't know who you're talking about...who's not coming?!" My head was painfully blank, watching the bus pass into the intersection.

"Bells! Remember!" He yelled, the slowing beginning to pick up. The bus continued onward, back to regular speed as it crossed into the path of a lumber truck running a red light.

"Wait! Just Wait!" I screamed, both the truck and bus slamming into one another with a sickening crash. "Dad! The Volturi!?" I yelled, watching the shards from the accident spilling forth, the sparks taking my father from me yet again.

-~-~-

The tears streaking down my face soaked through my pillow. I jumped awake, the familiar scream breaking through the silence in my room. I understood what my dad had been talking about but the pain inside my head drowned out everything else. I realised vaguely that Angela would be stopping by soon, the clock on my wall close to the end of school. I stood up from the bed slowly, shaky still from the nightmare. I had had that dream before, dozens of times, yet I had never understood what he meant. Charlie had always said the exact same thing, about not listening, about no one coming, yet I had never understood, standing in helpless confusion as the accident between bus and truck reoccured.

"Bella!" Victoria yelled from below stairs, her voice sounding within my room. I stepped out of my room, the old ripped jeans and faded grey shirt I wore feeling slightly awkward as I walked down the stairs. "What took you so long?" She hissed, catching sight of me as I stepped down the final few steps.

"You just called me a second ago." I snapped, watching as she raised an eyebrow at me. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to say hi." She smiled, so obviously pleased with herself.

"What?" I asked, slightly exasperated.

"The Volturi will be here soon." She smiled, obviously deluding herself into believing her own lies.

"I don't believe you." I whispered, watching as her eyes widened dangerously.

"I don't care whether you believe me." She hissed, her red/black eyes frantic.

"I'm not doing this anymore." I said, hearing a door close towards the front of the house.

"You can't leave." She panicked, stepping forward as both Lauren and Jessica came into the room.

"Cinderbella, I need you to clean-" Lauren began, apparently unaware of what she was walking into the middle of.

"Edward will stop you." I whispered, so low that I wasn't sure whether Victoria had heard. Her breath left in a deadly hiss, stopping both Lauren and Jessica cold.

"You can't leave." She repeated, even more frantic as Angela pulled up in front of the house.

"I'm getting out of here, and I'm telling them everything." I said, launching towards the front room.

"No!" Victoria shrieked, her arm reaching out and clipping me against the neck. I slammed painfully into the wooden floor, my lungs burning from the lack of air. I didn't want to feel my neck anymore, the pain so unbearable that it broke through the enclosing fog. "I said you couldn't leave...and I meant it." She said, her breathing ragged as she leaned towards me. My eyes widened horribly, finally giving in to the pain and burning of both my lungs and my neck.


	19. Broken Strings

**I do not awn Twilight...**

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!!!**

**Chapter 19**

"Oh God! Is she breathing?!" Jessica panicked, her hand resting against Bella's neck.

"Yes, she's breathing!" Victoria hissed, annoyed with Jessica's antics.

"Barely, her hearts not beating well." Jessica whispered, worried over the repercussions. She truly didn't care about Bella dying, but she was afraid of the Cullens finding out.

"Angela's here, Jessica go deal with her, distract her somehow." Victoria said, pulling Jessica up from where she sat beside Bella.

"What am I suppose to say?" Jessica asked, annoyed with the knocking on the door.

"I don't care! Just make her leave!" Victoria snapped, shoving Jessica away towards the front door.

"Why do you need her so badly?" Lauren asked, glaring towards Victoria.

"Because I changed you two idiots!!" Victoria yelled, causing Lauren to jump.

"What is that suppose to mean?" Lauren glared, pissed at Victoria's name calling.

"I made you two morons, so now I owe the Volturi a meaningful life...or else I forfeit my own." Victoria hissed, her teeth snapping at Lauren.

"Did you find this out when we were in Italy?" Lauren asked, no longer caring of Victoria's temper.

"Yes." Victoria sighed, annoyed with the time being wasted.

"I thought Aro, Caius, and Marcus enjoyed our company." Lauren whispered, obviously shocked.

"Barely, they thought my turning of the two of you was a waste. Help me get her to my car, I need to get her to the airport before the Cullens become aware." Victoria said, handing a bag filled with the outfits she had shopped for alongside Bella.

"No doubt, that midget Alice has already caught wind of what's going on." Lauren hissed following Victoria towards her car.

"That's why I need to leave, go grab the plane tickets." Victoria called, watching Lauren dash away.

"How would you have gotten her to go with you if this had not happened?" Lauren asked, handing the two envelopes to her.

"I would have figured it out, but this turned out to be perfect." Victoria said, watching as Jessica came back from distracting Angela.

"What do you want us to do?" Jessica asked, watching as Victoria started the car to leave.

"Find Laurent and James, we'll need them in case the Cullens find out about this." Victoria shut her door, opening the window as she readied the car to pull away.

"What about Mike?" Jessica asked, annoyed with having to leave.

"Forget about him, it's ridiculous anyway." Victoria said, closing the window against both Lauren and Jessica. She pulled away quickly, speeding down the road towards Port Angeles as well as the Airport.

--

I woke up slowly to darkness, pain throughout my body left me feeling paralyzed. I didn't know where I was, the very dull lighting showing showing nothing in the darkness. I tried to talk, nothing coming out. My throat felt as if it was gone completely, the pain almost unbearable.

"You're awake." Victoria said, her voice coming to me through the darkness. I nodded helplessly, deciding that that was far less painful then trying to talk but still the strain of nodding brought tears to my eyes. "Take these, you're very lucky you didn't smash your windpipe." Victoria said, handing me two pills as well as a small bottle of water.

"Whe-where?" I managed, choking out the single word.

"We're in an airplane, heading for Italy at the moment." She said, her voice finally clearing the confusion over where I was.

"H-h-ow?" I managed, tears running down my face from the pain in my throat.

"I managed to get you past security, the plane in New York was harder but they finally let you through." She smiled, as if waiting for something to happen. I raised an eyebrow in question, no longer able to even think of speaking.

"We're going to see the Volturi personally." She said, laughing as she heard my heartbeat kick into double time in panic. "Don't worry, if they like you they might keep you as a pet." She smiled, the grin disgustingly smug. I felt the blackness edging closer, raising panicked eyes toward Victoria. "Don't worry, it's just the medicine, I thought it would be better to keep you asleep." She said, smiling as she patted my limp hand. I reached inside my other pocket, trying with all the strength that I had left to grab a hold of my phone, I gave in to the medicine reluctantly, my phone sliding into Victoria's outstretched hand.

--

"It's cold!" I mouthed, no sound coming out through my constricted throat. Victoria pulled me along beside her, the pain in my back from the fall earlier making everything painful.

"Trust me, you'll need the coat for when you get inside." Victoria said, her voice carried off by the freezing wind. The wind was freezing me through the dress I wore, the same brown silk that Victoria had bought for me.

"Please Victoria." I mouthed, watching as she helped pull me along. The heels I wore were hard to walk in on the wet slick stones beneath my feet.

"Here, we're almost inside anyway." She whispered, pulling the coat around me. She seemed to be acting nicer to me, almost as if she were coming to the end of having to deal with me. I knew that for some reason she had brought me to Italy, and now she looked completely stress-free, suddenly my cloudy mind began to make the connections. Somehow even though I had been unconcious, I could remember the heated argument between Lauren, Jessica, and Victoria. I knew that she was going to give me to the Volturi, suddenly I was terrified, fighting against her as she pulled me through a passageway. I couldn't kick or punch, that would just end up hurting me more then her.

"She's not very well trained, is she?" A man called from the shadows, slightly laughing as Victoria brought me up short. The rips in her sleeves held proof that I had been struggling fiercely.

"She's got spunk." Victoria said, sounding flippant as she straightened fully.

"Interesting." He said, stepping forward from the shadows. It still didn't help me much to see, his whole figure was clouded by a black cloak.

"May we go in now, Felix?" Victoria asked, trying to keep the snap from her voice. Felix straightened completely, annoyed somewhat with Victoria's tone, and lead the way past several halls.

"Is the human sick?" He snapped, I wasn't able to see his eyes but I could tell he was looking at me suspiciously.

"She's fine." Victoria said, dropping her support of me and left, me to walk on my own through the freezing hall.

"Does she talk?" He asked, peering at me so closely that I finally caught sight of his bright ruby eyes.

"Yes, though her throat is injured at the moment." Victoria whispered, oddly annoyed with the Vampire. I kept up beside Victoria, steadily ignoring the looks Felix sent my way, the look of his bright red eyes scared me.

"They will see you first Victoria, leave the girl here." Felix said, indicating towards the woman behind the desk to watch me. The room was odd, unfitting with any of the other rooms we had seen, in fact it looked like a simple work place, missing the cubicles though.

"Would you like some water?" The woman asked, clearly not a Vampire, yet still very pretty despite where she worked. I opened my mouth to speak but shook my head no. I jumped slightly as the pain in my throat sprang forth from the head shaking, she watched closely as the frustration showed in my eyes.

"Would you like some advil or tylenol?" She asked, probably catching sight of the dark bruise along my neck. Victoria had tried covering it, covering some of it with liquid foundation. That didn't help much, merely down playing the deep black marks. Finally she had given up, placing a silk scarf along my throat. Victoria had gone far, first with the entire outfit and finally with the make-up on my face, she was obviously looking to impress.

"You can go in now." The woman smiled, placing a phone back within a holder. I hadn't even realized that it had been ringing. I stood up, pointing a finger down the hall in question. "Just follow the hall, Felix will be waiting by the door." I nodded softly, and walked down the hall slowly, tripping slightly on the heels I wore.

"Isabella?" Felix asked, his cloak no longer hiding his face. I nodded and he pulled me alongside him, through the doors and into a huge room. The room was freezing, Victoria standing towards the front, near several male and female vampires.

"Greetings, Bella!" One of the three lone men called from the front of the room. The man was clearly the leader in a way, the other two slightly behind and off to the side of him. He stared at me, smiling softly. He looked so fascinating to me, his skin almost clear and very fragile looking, his red eyes glazed over and his long black hair looking like silk.

"Bella." Victoria called sharply, glaring at me to step forward more, so the man could see me.

"Hello." My voice gave out halfway, the pain increasing.

"Bella, this is Aro, leader of the Volturi." Victoria said, her head bowed towards the man.

"A very enticing sacrifice, Victoria." Aro said, his milky eyes turning towards me yet again. My eyes jumped from him to her, realizing slowly what he had said.

"Jane?" Aro asked, his head unmoving as a small being moved swiftly towards him. She bowed low, her eyes bright red.

"Yes, master?" Jane asked, her voice bright and bubbly.

"Find our guest a safe place to stay for a time, we want our human to be comfortable." Aro smiled, clearly ignoring the way Victoria's teeth snapped together. "Victoria will stay also, until the business here in complete."

"What else needs to be done?" Victoria snapped, bowing her head down as Aro's head snapped towards her, along with several guards.

"The girl is tired and injured, she will need a certain amount of time to rest." He scolded, I watched as Victoria winced painfully.

"Yes, Master." Jane whispered, obviously annoyed with the prospect of having to watch over an injured human.

"Wait, I'll need you for a few things," I tried not to look at the way Jane smiled over Aro's comment, obviously interested in whatever he was pertaining to. "Find Gianna, she can take care of our young guest." Aro smiled towards me, the pleasent look on his face hiding whatever cruelty was underneath. "Good night, Bella." Aro smiled, waving pleasently as Gianna showed me out of the room.

--

"You'll stay here, keep the windows closed." The woman, Gianna, said. "Try to stay within the room, if you need anything contact me." She frowned, obviously reluctant over what I might do on my own. I nodded softly as she left, locking the door securely behind her. I paced beside the curtained window, listening to the pounding wind from outside. Oddly this was my first trip outside of the United States, yet I had been drugged nearly the entire time, I couldn't remember seeing anything of Italy except maybe the airport if I focused enough. I peeked around the curtain, catching sight of the hillside alighted by the moonlight. I saw mostly the hillside, but I managed to see several of the streets within the city, no random people roaming the streets.

"What time is it?" I asked myself, trying to work on my voice. I knew that I would need it if I planned to plead my case to Aro or any of the Volturi. The sensation was odd, feeling as if I was being gagged or choked yet nothing was around my throat, merely the bruises pressing deep. I swung my head carefully towards the bed, spotting the set of pajamas probably left there by Victoria. I changed quickly, discarding the dress and heals in the farthest corner, no longer wanting to see them.

"Take these." Gianna said suddenly, somehow working her way into the room. I jumped about ten feet into the air, my voice cracking around a yelp. She was carefully holding two simple green pills in her hand and a small cup of water.

"No drugs." I struggled, slightly petrified as I thought of everything Victoria had given me.

"They're just advil...for your throat." She smiled, pushing the pills closer. I looked her over warily, deciding that she didn't look to evil, only slightly crazy since she worked in a coven of vampires. Of course I couldn't say much, having lived with Vampires most of my life, first with Victoria and the rest with the Cullens.

"Thank you." I whispered, my throat painfully raw, yet better after the water.

"You're going to want to sleep for a while, it's nearly five in the morning." She said, shutting and locking the door behind her again. I lay in the bed, struggling to remember where I had left my phone, wanting so desperately to speak to Edward. I drifted off terrified as I remembered it dropping into Victoria's outstretched hand.

--

I felt horrible. Except it wasn't my neck so much anymore, or any other injuries I had gotten, just a deep-set feeling, as if something horrible was going to happen. I knew that, no matter what, I didn't want Edward to come for me. I knew it was crazy, but I truly didn't want him to be hurt or any of the Cullens to be hurt over me.

"Isabella?" Gianna asked from the now open doorway.

"Hmm?" I croaked out, despite the lessening tension in my throat, it still felt nearly impossible to talk.

"Would you like something to eat while you dress?" She asked, placing a couple of outfits on the bed.

"No." I squeaked out, the word muffled by my throbbing throat. I was starving but I wasn't hungry enough to eat here, I was too scared to try anything.

"Well, then I'll help you dress." She smiled picking up the green dress from the spot where she had placed it.

"The green dress is for today, the black is for tonight." She said, handing me the dress so I could put it on while she turned her back.

"Tonight?" I asked, annoyed with my breaking voice yet again. I began to fall back asleep as she continued brushing, the same way my mother had done before she had died.

"You'll be seeing the Volturi tonight." She smiled, brushing through my hair as I sat back down in the dress.

"Here, but these on and this around your neck." She said, waking me up as she placed a green scarf in my hand along with a pair of green earrings. I noticed that she was completely done with my hair, pulling it up in a bun and placing a jeweled flower clip in the side. I put the green jeweled earrings on along with the silk scarf which helped to hide the lingering bruises on my neck.

"You're allowed to walk around but keep away from where you met the Volturi. They're very busy today." She smiled, handing over a pair of black heels to me and left the room, leaving the door unlocked in case I wanted to walk around.

I simply stood there, watching the unmoving door numbly. I needed a phone, that's one thing I knew for certain. I didn't know where Edward was, whether he was still in Forks or on his way here, wherever here actually was. I knew it was Italy, but not actually where in Italy, whether it was close to Rome or more towards Verona. I left the room finally, looking down both ends of the black hall. I couldn't see anything, the darkness crowding in around me. I knew from what Gianna said that the windows were covered completely, but how would I be able to find my way around if there was no light what-so-ever. I grabbed a hold of the flashlight sitting in a drawer next to my bed. I shrugged casually and walked down the hall, ignoring some of the art work along the walls.

"Carlisle." I groaned, the light flashing against one of the paintings hung beside those of Aro. There in the painting, posing so simply, was Carlisle. Of course it was probably Carlisle before Esme or Edward but still it was Carlisle. Stunning to say the least yet he looked so sad, his eyes golden brown while the others were odd blends of red and black. He looked so forlorn, although smiling. I heard a phone ring from far off, a ringtone that I recognized instantly.

I walked forward, my hand trailing carefully along the wall as I left the painting behind. My light rested against a shiny black phone, lying tucked into the corner. Edward's name was scrawled across the top, the loud ringing echoing throughout the hall.

"Edward?" I asked, my voice barely breaking free as I held the phone to my ear.

"Bella! It's Alice, where are you?!" Alice asked, frantic on the other line.

"Alice." I gasped, my throat burning as I simply sat there, numb to the fact that someone was in the hall with me.

"Bella, are you with the Volturi? I can barely see you." She continued, hre voice rushed on the other line.

"Victoria has me-" I coughed, someone grasping a hold of my hair in the darkness and pulling. I screamed, my voice gaining strength as I yelled. "Alice!!" I screamed again, the phone falling out of my hand and sliding far from me.

"Bella, we're coming!!! We're almost there!" She yelled through the phone, stopping suddenly as a foot crashed into the phone.

"No!" I yelled, my voice gone as I simply sat there.

"Why, Bella? I've been so good to you, even they have been good to you." Victoria hissed, her hand yanking my hair painfully.

"I want to go home." I said, my voice still barely coming out, the strain from the yelling had ruined any progress that I had made.

"There is no going home, there's no home, there's nothing." Victoria said, yanking me along in the darkness. I was guessing that the flashlight had been broken in the struggle.

"Edward." I whispered, refusing to believe that this was all I had left.

"He's gone, it's not like he can come here and simply save you, the Volturi would probably kill both you and him for exposing the secret." She shoved me into the bedroom, sitting me roughly on the bed. "Stop fighting it, listen, if you make a good enough impression they could change you, you could be like your Edward." Her eyes looked half crazed, the deep red nearly feverish.

"No." I said, glaring steadily at her.

"It's your death anyway." She smiled, walking out of the room, the turn of the lock echoed throughout the entire space.

**Hi people! I have pictures of Bella's outfits as well as Jessica, Lauren, and Victoria's cars on my profile.**


	20. Internal Dilemma

**I do not own Twilight…**

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!!**

**Final Chapter Folks!!! And then Epilogue!!! So please review, and prepare for a very long chapter ahead, I just couldn't stop writing.**

**Chapter 20**

"Isabella?" Someone asked from the doorway, the room pitch black since the light had never been turned on. I stayed laying down against the pillow, my whole body feeling numb, trying to move but I couldn't quite get my body to listen.

"Bella?" The woman called yet again, the bedroom door creaking as it was opened fully. I struggled to talk, both my head and my body fighting against one another. "Isabella Marie Swan!" The woman was standing beside me, her voice suddenly becoming recognizable to me.

"Mom?" I gasped out, my body still refusing to move even an inch. She was standing beside me now, her eyes watching me closely.

"Remember me, okay?" She whispered, kneeling down beside me so that we were eye to eye. I couldn't nod my head, I couldn't even talk. "Just remember me when you see them, remember what Victoria did, what Jessica bragged about." She nodded to me quickly, trying to make sure I understood. She pressed a small kiss to my cheek, stepping away after she placed something beside my hand. I tried to reach out for her, the sickening paralysis becoming so overwhelming, I fought, so hard, reaching for her without moving at all.

--

"Isabella?" A woman called through the darkened room. I jumped up, managing to keep from shrieking as I woke up from the dream. I had managed to break free from that oppressive paralysis that had taken hold while I had dreamed.

"Who?" I croaked, my voice better but I still wasn't eager to strain it.

"It's Gianna. We have to be going soon, the Volturi don't like to wait long." Gianna called, lighting a lamp as she stepped forward. She put down one of the outfits from earlier, helping me up from where I lay. I nodded softly, happy to be free of the dream.

"Put this on and I'll be back when you're done to dress your hair." She smiled, handing the pretty black dress to me. I knew that if I ever got out of this, I would definately go back to regular jeans and tennis shoes. I changed out of the green dress I wore, wrinkled from me sleeping in it and kicked the shoes to the side. The dress was a deep black, shining slightly in the meager lighting, it was shorter then the other dresses leaving me feeling slightly uncomfortable but still it was nice, slightly pleated and a bubbled hem. I paused for a second, amazed that somehow Alice had rubbed off on me. I shuddered, thinking of how proud she would be if she had heard what I knew.

"Bella?" Victoria called, walking in slowly after I finished shifting the dress into place. I didn't understand why she was there, obviously dressed for the meeting with the Volturi. Her bright red hair was piled high, strands of black beads run through it. Her dress was short, the black silk draped over her form.

"What?" I whispered, my voice managing to stay steady.

"I know your neck is probably still hurting so I brought some medicine." She held out several pills, smiling perfectly at me. I shook my head no, roughly, refusing to take anything from her. "They'll make talking easier, you'll need it with the Volturi." She said, not put off in the slightest.

"No." I said again, not wanting it.

"Bella, trust me, I feel horrible about everything and this will help so you'll be able to talk, defend yourself and everything." She said, grabbing a hold of a small water bottle.

"I have nothing to defend myself over, I've done nothing wrong." I whispered, my voice still pitched low.

"Well you'll need your voice to defend your Edward, he is the one who actually broke the rules." She glared, composing her face quickly.

"Alright." I whispered, taking the medicine quickly as Gianna knocked softly on the door.

"See you soon, Bella." Victoria smiled, walking past Gianna as she left the room.

"Are you alright?" Gianna asked, a bag of hair products under her arm. I nodded, sitting down in a chair she held out for me.

"I brought you these," She smiled, handing me a pair of simple black flats to wear. "I saw how odd you were in those heels so I thought you would prefer to wear these."

"Thank you." I smiled, slipping them on. I was happier with my voice, noticing the way that saying the simple phrase hadn't been a chore.

"What are these?" Gianna asked, holding something within her hand.

"What?" I asked, as she showed me the pair of silver combs, the sapphires shining brightly in the light.

"When did you bring these?" She asked, letting me hold them as she brushed through my hair.

"Where did you find them?" I croaked, my voice was better but the tears were clogging my throat.

"They were on the bed, where you had been sleeping." She said, pulling my hair up on each side and placing the combs within.

"I don't know." I whispered, knowing that my mother had left something beside me before she had left. It made no sense at all, knowing that Jessica had been wearing the combs last, when she had attacked me.

"Oh, Bella, don't cry." Gianna whispered, pressing a tissue under my eyes where the tears fell. She was slightly panicked over me ruining the make up she had placed on me.

"Sorry." I said, slightly amazed and shocked over what had happened. She placed a black scarf around my neck, followed closely by a pair of black earrings and a black bracelet.

"You'll need this." She said, handing me a simple black coat. I shrugged into it, following beside her as we left the room behind.

"Why, Gianna?" I asked, amazed that she knew where to go in the darkness.

"What?" She asked, turning her ear towards me.

"Why do you work for them?" I asked, slightly amazed that Victoria had told the truth about my voice getting better with the medicine.

"I needed the job, they pay nicely." She whispered, her voice slightly sad.

"But what about-" I began, cut off when the doors came into view.

"I'm hoping they'll turn me." She said, trying to smile but failing. I realized then that what she was wishing for was impossible, the blank look on her face helped me guess that she knew it also. "You can go in now." I hugged her quickly, the doors opening as we stood there.

"Thank you." I whispered, walking into the room beside Felix.

"Bella, it's so wonderful to see you again!" Aro called, standing in front of one of the three thrones. I smiled, unsure of what to do as Victoria stood beside me.

"Now, of course we've called you here to determine what we are going to do with you. Victoria told us that you are gifted, your mind blank to intrusion?" Aro asked as I peered over at Victoria. She was smiling perfectly, apparently once listening in to a conversation with Edward.

"So I've been told." I said, my voice becoming stronger as I went on.

"Ah! She speaks, and so very lovely." Aro smiled, looking over to the brilliantly smiling Victoria.

"I would never bring someone unworthy." She said, her voice completely clear.

"Now Bella, what happened to your family?" Aro asked, apparently interested.

"My mother and father are dead." I said, my eyes glued to the ground practically.

"How?" Caius asked from beside Aro, speaking for the first time.

"I don't remember much about my father, we were both involved in an accident. My mother was murdered." I said, noticing the way Victoria shifted uncomfortably.

"How was your mother murdered?" Jane asked, smiling evilly, apparently the idea of it appealed to her.

"As I was told by Victoria's newborn Jessica, Victoria attacked her." I whispered, hearing the slow hiss come from Victoria, apparently she hadn't known what Jessica had let slip. Aro looked towards Victoria, his eyes slanted as he watched her.

"Do you know how?" Aro asked, continually staring at Victoria.

"Her neck was wripped open." I whispered, feeling slightly dizzy. I felt numb again, no longer connected to what I was saying and answering.

"Victoria?" Aro asked, obviously expecting her to explain herself. She stepped forward slowly, her hand towards Aro's outstretched palm. Aro clasped a hold and bent his head forward, his forehead concentrating.

"Interesting." He whispered, Victoria stepping away slowly. He looked quickly towards the several members of the Volturi, seeming to talk without words.

"Now Bella, I would like to try something before we make our decision. Can you step forward?" He asked, taking a step forward the same as I did. I carefully put a hand on mine, his head bent over my hand the same as it had been with Victoria. "Fascinating..." He smiled, covering the slight look of annoyance on his face.

"May I try?" Jane asked, skipping forward to stand more closely to Aro. She was smiling at me, her eyes focused on my face, suddenly she frowned looking as if she was ready to throw a fit.

"Did you try?" I asked, my stomach rolling painfully as I stood there. Jane stomped farther away, looking as if she was pouting.

"Sir?" One of the guards beside Aro whispered, still several feet from him. He whispered more to him, nearly impossible for me to hear where I stood. Aro nodded quickly, smiling as he motioned for me to step back towards Victoria.

"This will be quite interesting." He smiled, turning back towards the opening doors.

"Carlisle!" I called out, the pain forgotten as I saw him in the doorway. He looked towards me quickly and moved forward, Alice following slowly behind him. I was painfully confused, my head pounding as I noticed the look of grief over her face. Her face lit up brightly as she saw me, all the pain leaving her face.

"Alice." I said, my stomach rolling again painfully.

"I couldn't see you anymore after you went missing. I was panicking and then you picked up the phone and I couldn't understand why I didn't see you anymore, but then I saw you and-" She stopped, guilt and pain crossing her face again. "I didn't want to see it anymore." She whispered, hugging me rapidly before standing beside Carlisle.

"Edward." I whispered, watching as he stepped into the room. His head swung towards me, the look of panic fading slightly from his face. I noticed suddenly how very black his eyes were, probably the darkest I had ever seen them.

"Bella." He called out, stopped from moving forward by Felix. He continued to watch me as he was pulled back towards Carlisle, his black eyes never leaving my face.

"How did they get here?" Victoria hissed into my ear, her voice coming out painfully loud in my pounding head. My stomach was heaving painfully and I felt completely dizzy, my knees threatening to give way.

"I knew you would never get away with this." I said, managing to stay on my feet somehow.

"Carlisle, dearest brother, I haven't seen you in so long! And it would appear that you've made yourself a family." Aro smiled, ignoring the way Caius seemed to sneer.

"This is Edward and Alice, two of my most trusted." Carlisle said, flanked slightly by Edward on one side and Alice on another. I wondered whether Carlisle would mention their gifts, probably not.

"Have you come to have a little snack with us? We were just deciding what to do with the little human over there." Aro smiled, raising a hand in my direction. If it was at all possible, both Edward and I turned about ten shades paler each. Alice's eyes widened suddenly, her hand grabbing a hold of Edward's arm.

"Ah, so ycu are gifted!" Aro practically cheered, closely watching both Edward and Alice.

"Yes." Alice said, not letting go of Edward's arm.

"Yes." Edward hissed, ignoring the way Jane stepped forward.

"Alice has the ability to see into the future, and Edward can read minds." Carlisle said, stepping forward in front of both Edward and Alice.

"Fascinating!" Aro called, his face split into an eager grin. "Will you be staying with us long?" Aro asked, leaning to the side as the other Volturi member whispered into his ear, still managing to look completely bored out of his mind.

"We've come for Bella Swan." Carlisle said, motioning towards where I stood.

"Your Edward has a relationship with this human?" Aro asked, his face showing his amazement.

"Yes." Edward said, looking towards me.

"Marcus here is quite shocked by the depth of your relationship, he's rarely seen anything like it." Aro said, speaking to both me and Edward.

"Make a decision!" Victoria hissed, earning Aro's glare.

"Bella, would you like to become part of the Volturi?" Aro asked, ignoring the annoyed gasp that came from Caius.

"Why?" I asked, pain lancing throughout my entire body, apparently my head was no longer working properly.

"I'm intrigued with how you would turn out as a vampire." Aro said, watching Edward as he spoke.

"I'm sorry, no." I said, my eyes glued to Edward.

"That's too bad." Aro said, frowning at me. "Caius?"

"What?" I asked, lurching backwards as Caius stepped forward. I fought to keep the tears at bay as Edward fought against Alice, trying to reach for me.

"Aro wait!" Carlisle yelled, trying to overcome the panic caused by both me and Edward.

"Carlisle, she cannot expose our secret, it's far too dangerous and punishable by death." Aro said, still smiling so brightly.

"Wait!" I begged, ignoring the way Victoria was laughing over the string of events. "She's exposed the secret of vampires more then I ever could." I called, watching as Aro was brought up short.

"What do you mean?" Caius hissed, stepping forward.

"She flaunts what she is, feeding on humans in town. Not bothering to hide what she or any of them are." I whispered, knowing that if Victoria had the chance she would kill me.

"We plan to turn the human." Carlisle said, knowing it was the last chance I would ever have.

"Do you truly?" Aro asked, turning towards Carlisle.

"Yes." Carlisle stated.

"What about your boy?" He asked, turning towards Edward who was struggling still against Alice's restraining arm.

"She'll be turned." Edward whispered, no longer fighting.

"Well then, Bella you may go with them...if you are truly sure that you don't wish to join us." Aro said, indicating towards Edward.

"No thank you." I whispered, fighting against Victoria's sudden grip on my wrist.

"No! This is the life that I have given you! If you choose not to take it you can't take mine!!" Victoria yelled, her grip on my arm was almost bone shattering.

"Let go!" I yelled, the throbbing in my neck returning.

"No!!" She screamed, not noticing the sudden approach of the Volturi Guard at Caius' signal. Edward grabbed a hold of me as they made contact with her, pulling me backwards roughly as the screaming began. I buried my face in his shoulder as he tried to hide the scene from me, I could still hear it though. The loud hissing, screaming, and bone cracking would always stay with me.

"You may go." Aro smiled, not looking at us as he watched the flames erupt over the pile that had once been Victoria. Edward picked me up quickly, holding me against him in his arms as the three left the room so quickly. I couldn't see the halls, I couldn't see anything through the blur of speed.

"Edward stop!" I choked out, knowing that I was about to be sick.

"I can't, not yet." He muttered, running until the sound of the flames was far behind.

"Edward, stop, Bella's not well." Carlisle whispered, jerking Edward to a stop. I jerked suddenly, falling out of his arms so quickly he didn't have the time to catch me. I hit the dirt, heaving onto the ground. I didn't understand what was wrong, but everything that I had felt inside the room was intensified, the pain lurching throughout my entire body. Alice fell beside me, her hand against my back. Even that slight contact felt horrible, causing me to jerk away from her.

"Carlisle! Something's very wrong!" Alice screamed, jerking both Carlisle and Edward down beside me.

"Alice get the car, we'll need to get away from her quickly." Edward said, his hand pressed close against my face. It hurt so horribly, I cried out jerking away from him. My body was in pain, I couldn't even think knowing that somehow I was horribly ill.

"Bella, come on, were you given something?" Carlisle asked, flashing a light against my eyes. I screamed out again, Edward grabbing and holding me so Carlisle could check me over.

"I can't remember!" I screamed, fighting blindly against the small light. The pain coming from it was stabbing into my brain, beginning to numb it to everything.

"Bella? Bella, we need you to stay awake." Edward called, hugging me close. I tried to scream out again, the pain excruciating but I couldn't any longer, the harder I tried to make any sound the more impossible it became.

"Bella, answer me now! Were you given something?" Carlisle asked, blurring before my eyes. I tried to shake my head but I couldn't even manage it, I was trapped somehow inside myself. "Edward, she's turning blue." Carlisle whispered, his finger pressed against my freezing wrist.

"This isn't happening, it can't be." Edward whispered, his breath blowing against my cheek. I fought against the numbness, but I continued to lose the feeling continuing to disappear throughout my body. First my head, my neck, my arms, my legs, and finally my feet. I knew that somehow this was what dying must feeling like. The same feeling that my parents had gone through, that Edward had gone through, that I was going through.

"She's not going to make it." Carlisle said, his entire palm pressed against my heart.

"Her hearts still beating." Edward growled, his face pressed against mine.

"Not for long." Carlisle whispered, his hand falling away. Everything felt as if it was falling away, and I wanted to scream out, to hold it with me.

"I won't give up on her." Edward said, rocking with me unmoving in his arms. "She's strong, she's the strongest human I know...the strongest being I know."

"Edward-" Carlisle started, stopping suddenly. I heard a car pull up, slamming to a stop beside us.

"I'll change her, we promised we would." Edward continued, his mouth pressed against my neck.

"Edward you haven't fed in days, there is a high risk that at the state she's already in, she wouldn't make it." Carlisle whispered, pulling Edward away. Edward shoved, fighting to keep hold of me. I knew that the moment he would let go, I would be forced to let go too. Let go of everything I had come to love, everything I had lived for.

"Then you do it, Carlisle! You know how, and she's already near death!" Edward begged, rocking me close.

"Edward." Alice whispered from somewhere.

"Edward I don't think I can." Carlisle whispered, guilt filling his words.

"Try at least, for me Carlisle. I can't go on without her." He choked, his face pressed close against mine again. I wanted to fight back against the numbness throughout my body, I wanted to fight against everything that had taken over, but I couldn't, my heart stuttered painfully still as Carlisle's mouth pressed against my wrist. I faded, the beating, the breathing, the fighting over as I simply disappeared.

--

I stood in my home, the old familiar front room sending shockwaves through my body.

"Hi, Bells." Charlie called from the couch in front of the television, his hair messy like it used to be. Suddenly I wanted to sob openly, standing there, I was a kid again waiting for someone.

"Bella, stay here with your dad and I'll be back soon." My mom smiled, her purse going over her shoulder.

"Mom, no." I whispered, my voice high with my youth.

"Don't you want a birthday gift, silly?" She laughed, tapping a small kiss on my nose before she walked out the door. I was somehow in the car with my mom, sitting in the back seat, buckeled in my old car seat.

"Mom?" I called, my voice that of a four year-old. She didn't notice, merely continued singing as she drove towards Port Angeles.

"Mom." I cried, knowing what was going to happen, knowing that I would have to watch. I hated this so much, not able to remember fully what had happened before I had gone under. Was I dead? Was I suppose to spend eternity watching my mother die? I wiped away the tears, knowing that somehow I would need to be strong if I was going to find a way out of this. I had no control of where I was going, suddenly walking beside my mother as she left the small jeweler store.

"Hi Mike! Is your mother there?" She asked, her phone held against her ear. I didn't know at all that she had talked to Ms. Newton before she had died.

"Hang up the phone!" A man ordered, something pressed against her back as he dragged her into an alley. I grabbed the phone trying to dial but it didn't work for me, not showing any sign of working.

"Shut up!" A woman screamed from the alley, her bright red hair shining even in the dark shadow.

"Victoria!" I screamed aloud, yanking at anything I could reach. Except being back as a four year-old, didn't help at all with the strength or anything. My mother was screaming, fighting against her, unaware of what Victoria really was. She grabbed a hold of my mothers purse, rifling through a collection of things.

"Pretty." She laughed, tucking the pair of silver jeweled combs in her pocket. My mother began to really yell, fighting with all her might. I heard several bones snap and turned away, wanting to run but not able to.

"How cute, I think I want them." Victoria smiled, taking off her sunglasses as she eyed my mother. Her eyes were bright red, but the only thing my mother was concentrating on was the small picture Victoria held of me sitting on Charlie's lap that past Christmas. I tried not to watch as she finished, leaving my mom against the wall, completely lifeless.

"How could you?" I whispered, following her slightly as she continued down into the street. Two young girls were standing on the sidewalk, asking random people if they had seen their parents. Victoria stepped close, smiling at the two little girls, one brunette, one blond, both the same age as me.

"What are your names?" She asked, kneeling down and smiling at them.

"Well, I'm Lauren. This is Jessica." Lauren said, standing beside the shyly waving Jessica.

"Have you seen our parents?" Jessica asked, showing her two seperate pictures. "You see these are my mom and dad. These are hers." She said, nodding towards Lauren.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't see them." She smiled, obviously choosing to forget the faces of the two seperate couples she had killed along with my mom. "Would you like to come home with me for a while? I'll take care of you until we can find them." She smiled, grabbing both their hands as they all walked off.

--

"Charlie? I'll need you to take the bus today, I need to borrow your car so I can take the girls shopping." Victoria said, pulling the keys to Charlie's cruiser from his hand.

"I was planning to take Bella to the movies, and you all went shopping the other day." Charlie said, put off with Victoria.

"I'm not having this argument Charlie, come on girls." She called out, stepping out of the house with the smirking Jessica and Lauren.

"It's okay dad, we can just go another day." I said, somehow connected to myself at that time like I hadn't been before with my mother.

"No, I promised Bells. We'll just go in the bus, it can be fun Kiddo." He smiled grabbing his wallet and taking me with him down the street to the nearest bus stop.

"See Bells? We can have fun and go see a late night showing, eat popcorn, all the works." He laughed, sitting beside me in the uncrowded bus.

"Yeah dad." I laughed, trying to disconnect myself from what I knew was coming next. I wasn't able to remember much, most of it blocked out, like how I had gotten away from the actual accident, only slightly harmed. I looked around the bus, the only child of the five or so people sitting in the bus. I noticed my father of course, the bus driver, a man sitting across from us, woman beside him, and the woman sitting in the farthest part of the bus.

"Alice!" I called out, unsure of whether or not I was actually seeing what I believed was Alice. She was still as unearthly beautiful, her face hidden slightly, her eyes shadowed with that knowing look. She peered over at me, her golden eyes wide but unseeing. Her hair was as beautiful and spiratic as ever.

"Bella Swan." She whispered and suddenly I knew that this was everything I had forgotten, I had forgotten completely meeting Alice, blocking it out along with the pain of losing my father. Somehow I had recognized her the first moment I had seen her in school, feeling protected the instant I met her.

"Bells, I wanted to talk to you about what you told me about Victoria." Charlie said, recalling my attention. I nodded, watching slowly as the lumber truck rolled forward. I remembered everything so far that night, I could remember seeing the driver of the truck asleep at the wheel, his blood alcohol level had been off the charts.

"It's fine, Dad." I whispered, hugging him suddenly. I broke free of the routine, just wanting this one painful chance to say goodbye forever. I loved my dad, every part of him, yet I had hated him for so long, for who he had left me with. But I knew it was for the better, because who was to say I would have even met the Cullens if I hadn't stayed in Forks along with Victoria. I was able to take the punishments from her and them, the cold calculated cruelty, knowing that deep down Edward made it worth while. I was deeply in love with Edward Cullen, completely lost to him forever. I watched through the window as the lumber truck slammed into the bus, cold arms slipping around me and pulling me from my father, my father who had taken the brunt of the hit when the Truck slammed into his window.

--

I woke up slowly against the cold, wet street. The black pavement dirtying my clothes. Somehow Alice had pulled me away from there, knowing the future would have to come to pass with me. She had disappeared completely and I remembered everything, what happened to my dad and my mom. I was no longer angry, confused, I knew what had happened and although I had just been subjected to so much pain and brutality, I felt more complete knowing that none of this had been my fault. Both my parents had loved me, and the idiocy and cruelty of other people had taken them from me. I fought to get up, standing up somehow apart from wreckage. I knew that I had to fight to find my way back to Edward and I was ready, ready to be happy and complete for the time being.

--

"Bella?" Edward called, his face pressed slightly against my cheek. "If you're there right now, I need you to show me." He whispered, his breath making my head dizzy. "Just move a finger or something, let me know that you're here and you're alright."

"Edward?" I asked, my throat on fire again.

"Bella!" He smiled, pressing a kiss to my forehead. I noticed the tortured look in his eyes, eyes that were blackest black, the circles under his eyes completely shadowed.

"You haven't fed." I whispered, my hand running along the dark shadows. Wherever we were it was dark, yet I could still see his face perfectly, like a brilliant beacon.

"Don't worry." He smiled, his forehead resting against mine. I reached up slowly, just needing the contact, and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, letting go as I stayed there. I noticed the tension give way instantly as he kissed me back, slightly urgent. I felt the way he let loose and I knew how dangerous it was with his lack of 'food', but I didn't protest, I went on with it, kissing him back full force, my hands in his hair as he finally pulled back but didn't break contact.

"Sorry." I whispered, knowing that I wasn't in anyway possible sorry for what had just gone on. He laughed aloud and rested his forehead against mine again, I could tell he was smiling even in the darkness.

"Where are we?" I asked, not able to see the room in the darkness.

"We're back in my room, you were gone for a while." He whispered, the slight panic and worry finding it's way back into his beautiful voice.

"What happened?" I asked, slightly remembering that the last resort was turn me. "Am I vampire?" I asked, slightly astonished.

"No, Carlisle and I were about to but he was able to catch the scent of the drug you were given." He whispered, pressing a kiss against a small band-aid cut along my wrist.

"I'm so sorry I couldn't help, everything just started shutting down. I could hear everything but I was trapped, my mind was stuck, my body was completely unworking but I was fighting the entire time." I whispered, tears filling my eyes. "I was fighting for you." I whispered, my mouth against his cheek.

"I love you, every part of you entirely." He whispered, pressing a kiss to a dark bruise on my neck.

"Victoria had given me the pills before I had met the Volturi, I began to feel sick when I was in there but I thought it was only nerves." I whispered, laying my head back on a pillow beside Edward. "I overlooked it because it actually worked at first, I could talk and everything."

"I read it in her mind but it confused me, somehow she knew that deep down she would never leave, and if they turned you they would be ill or if you were sent away you would still be ill." He said, the growl deep in his throat.

"So how were you able to make me better and get me back here?" I asked, noticing finally the IV in my arm.

"Carlisle drove as fast as possible to the nearest medical center, he even stole the counteractive drugs used. I had to keep your heart beating so I was panicked the entire time." He said, resting his head beside mine. "The rest we just smuggled you in, it was actually very easy." He laughed, pressing a kiss against my temple.

"I have to go tell Carlisle you're awake, I'll be back in a moment." He whispered, slipping away slowly.

"Edward," I called out, trying to hide the panic in my voice. "Can you turn on the light, it's just that I've been stuck in the dark for days and I sort of need a break in the light so to speak." I said, watching as he quickly kissed me on the forehead one second, flashing on the light the next. The room was brightly lit once again, showing the clear night outside. For the first time in a really long while, I could actually see the stars in Forks.

"Bella?" Alice asked, standing on the edge of the doorway.

"Hi Alice." I smiled, trying to pull myself to a sitting position but it was nearly impossible.

"You remember, don't you?" She asked, still not stepping out of the doorway.

"I remember the bus accident now." I said, leaving out what else I knew.

"So you remember that I was there?" She asked, stepping forward hesitantly.

"Yes, I was actually shocked I didn't remember sooner. I must have blocked it out." I said, managing to pull myself up enough so that I could sit.

"I was shocked too, as soon as I saw you the first time in school." She whispered, moving so she could sit next to me.

"You didn't show it, though." I said, noticing that she was slightly squeamish.

"I had to hide it. The bus incident was the first thing I was actually able to hide from Edward, he never knew that I had met you actually, he just knew that I had been involved somehow but had gotten out." She said, smiling at me.

"Thank you for saving me." I said, looking over at her. "What did you see that night? Because I noticed the far off look before the accident."

"I saw several things actually, well first I saw the accident, because that was the more immediate." She said, shrugging slightly. "I was about to run when the second one struck me."

"What did you see?" I asked, still curious.

"I saw you, a few years later, beside Edward." She said, looking over at me with a serious look in her eyes. "I saw the happy look on his face, he looked so carefree, a look I had never truly seen with Edward, and I couldn't resist it. I saw the truck coming, it was a second or so from hitting right where you were sitting and I grabbed you, pulling you out of the bus."

"What about afterwards? I couldn't understand why I was there alone, how I had managed to get away." I said, remembering the sudden confusion that had struck me when I had woken up beside the burning wreckage that had been both the truck and the bus.

"I had to leave you there, Carlisle was waiting for me along with Jasper. All three of us had come to scope out the town, to see if it was a safe place to live, and we had managed to find this home but I was still out looking around when I decided to get on the bus. I'm sorry I had to leave you there, but there would have been to many questions if they had found me. I couldn't risk the exposure." She said, seeming to ask for understanding.

"I understand." I said, hugging her rather slowly, my body still not working quite right.

"Carlisle is coming to check on you, so I'll leave you with him. I need to explain to Edward about the whole bus accident before he simply sees it in my head." She laughed, smiling as she left the room.

"Hi, Bella. How are you feeling?" Carlisle asked, walking through the door every bit the doctor.

"I'm feeling a lot better, still a little slow but better." I smiled, my head still holding a little bit of that fog from earlier.

"Well, just one more day on the IV and you should be back to normal." He injected something into the IV that was hooked to my arm.

"What is it?" I asked, watching the IV.

"It's the counteractive drug, it will make you a little sleepy but it's been working perfectly so far." He smiled, patting my hand slightly as I shifted to lay back down.

"Edward, you can come back in now." Carlisle called, watching as Edward walked back through the open doorway. He lay down beside me, shifting so he could hold me close. Neither of us noticed as Carlisle stepped out of the room.

"These are yours, Bella." Edward said, his palm held outwards toward me. I saw the two small rings held there and couldn't help but jump up when I saw them.

"Where did you find them?" I asked, close to tears as I held them in my hand.

"I found them in your home, shortly after you went missing. I thought they would be very important to you." He said, smiling towards me.

"This one here, it was my Grandma's she gave it to me when I was a year or so old. You see? The stones are pyrite. This one was my mother's engagement ring, my dad managed to buy it for her after he kept working overtime for months in a row." I smiled, showing him each ring. I lay back down, slipping the rings onto my fingers as Edward slipped his arms back around me. "Thank you, Edward." I whispered, very happy.

"You can sleep, Bella. I'll watch over you." He whispered, still holding me. I smiled slowly, deciding that this was a great way to sleep protected.

--

**Please Review!! And I should have the Epilogue up shortly! **

**Also, check out the outfits for Victoria and Bella on my profile.**


	21. Epilogue

**I do not own Twilight...**

**R-E-V-I-E-W!!!!**

**Epilogue**

"Can I please go home now?" I asked Carlisle, sitting across from him. I was eating cereal, still taking it painstakingly slow so I wouldn't become ill again.

"Sorry, that's sort of up to Alice and Esme." Carlisle said, shrugging slightly.

"It's their master plan isn't it? To keep me hostage forever." I groaned, resting my head against the table. It had been nearly three days, no matter how much I loved being with Edward and his family, I was sort of tired of having to be dressed day to day by Alice.

"Maybe." Carlisle laughed, honestly laughed at my pout.

"Well, can I go outside with Edward?" I asked, looking out the window towards where Jasper, Emmett, Rosalie, and Edward were playing soccer.

"I don't know...you could end up pushing it too far." Carlisle said, still slightly worried over any repercussions from the drugs Victoria had given me.

"Worse possibility is that I fall on my face," I said, shrugging slightly as we both smiled. "But I do that all the time anyway, so it's alright." I laughed, shrugging again.

"Well yes, you do fall a lot." Carlisle said, laughing as he stood up. "I've never seen a human quite so accident prone." He said, the confused look on his face making me crack up again.

"It's truly a gift, honestly." I said, trying to act haughty as I sat there.

"Okay maybe you can go out, but please, Bella, I am honestly begging you, don't fall or break anything or get any concussions, because, despite what you may think, today is my day off from the hospital." Carlisle laughed, following me out the door as I ran forward trying not to trip or fall on anything.

"Don't worry, Carlisle. I only want to watch, I know what Alice would do to me if I ruined her 'carefully' coordinated outfit." I laughed, walking down towards where they were playing. The simple black and white plaid top was very comfortable, matching with the plaid tennis shoes and the black skinny jeans.

"Bella, you can sit here." Carlisle said, showing me to a simple chair close to the grass.

"Fine." I groaned, sitting down and watching.

"Stop fretting, Alice will be back soon." Carlisle laughed, grabbing hold of a huge medical dictionary and heading back inside.

"Wait, aren't you going to stay here and watch?" I asked, frowning over at him.

"Not really, I'm more of a baseball person rather then soccer." He said, shrugging. "Remind Edward to show you how we play baseball, I don't think you've seen any of our games." He said, heading inside. I sat there, guessing it was a pretty good day, the sun wasn't out but it wasn't freezing cold. I continued watching the game, nodding off as Rosalie scored her fiftieth goal against Emmett.

"Bella?" Edward laughed, pressing a kiss to my cheek. "Is the game that boring?" He continued laughing, sitting beside me.

"No, I guess the medicine knocked me out." I whispered, yawning loudly. "How long was I asleep?" My cheeks flushing bright red as I realized that the soccer game was over.

"Not long, about ten minutes. I decided to wake you up before Emmett grabbed the permanent marker." Edward said, eyeing the inside of the house.

"Seriously?" I asked, turning an even darker shade of red.

"Yes, but I heard his thought before he could act." He laughed, both of us spotting Emmett as he tried to sneak forward.

"Emmett! Where did you put my eyeliner!!" Rosalie yelled from inside the house, leaning out the upperstory window. If it was at all possible, I had no doubt that Emmett would have been bright red.

"Dang it." He whispered, pulling the eyeliner from behind his back. "Foiled by my own wife." He groaned stepping back inside.

"Emmett I already saw what you were getting ready to do. You never would have had a chance." Edward laughed, helping me inside.

"That's what you think!" Emmett yelled, his laughter echoing throughout the entire house.

"Is Alice back yet?" I asked, walking beside him towards the stairs.

"Actually yeah, she just pulled into the garage with Esme." Edward said as Alice danced through the door, dropping her keys on the table.

"Finally, she's been gone for two and a half days." I groaned. Both Esme and Alice had left shortly after I had returned to their house, staying away for the several days that I had been here. The entire family had even been gone from school the past week, helping in the search for me. "No offense, but does this mean that I'm allowed to go home now?" I asked, whispering to Edward.

"Yes, but..." He started but stopped as Alice danced by, obviously excited. "Well, you'll see I guess." He groaned, glaring at his smiling sister.

"What do you mean?" I asked, peering up at him.

"I'm not allowed to say anything." He said, dragged backward by Alice.

"Come on, Bella. I'll drive you home." Alice smiled, dancing forward. She was obviously very excited over something and it sort of frightened me. "Come on." She said, grabbing her keys and yanking me along behind her.

"Alice, what did you do?" I asked, sitting down in the passenger seat of Carlisle's car.

"Nothing, silly." She laughed, scaring me more and more.

"Alice, I am honestly asking you as a friend...Is it possible that you have finally snapped? Because you know I'm here for you, whether it's drugs, alcohol, psychotic break." I said, staring out the window as she pulled away.

"You're funny, Bella." She laughed, speeding down the lane towards my home. I was slightly amazed with how quickly we got to my house, Carlisle's car was very good at speeding.

"Thanks Alice." I smiled, pushing open the door and stepping out.

"Don't forget your phone!" She called, making sure to hand me the brand new Iphone.

"Alice, I honestly don't need something this ridiculously expensive." I said, pushing the phone in my pocket. I was promising myself that I would only use it until I could get a job and pay for my own cellphone.

"Don't be a dork." She scoffed, laughing at me. "You'll need it anyway, Edward's number is 3, I'm 2, the hospital is 4-" She called, still going as I shut the door and walked off. "Bye Bella!" She yelled, driving off rapidly. I shook my head, managing to find my key and unlock the door. I couldn't make it any farther in then the doorway, to shocked to move. I simply stood in the doorway, pulling out the Iphone as it began to vibrate.

"Are you home?" Edward asked instantly, apparently finally allowed to tell me what exactly had happened.

"Did you see?" I managed to gasp out, finally stepping into the front room more fully.

"I managed to hear her slip right before she dragged you out, are you very angry? Because Esme had the best intentions, Alice sort of went overboard when it came to your room." He continued as I walked through the front room.

"I haven't been upstairs yet..." I said, running a hand along one of the couches.

"Oh, well, Surprise!" He said, managing to sound sheepish.

"Actually, I'm still in the front room sort of." I said, still standing in the middle of the front room, my hand on the couch.

"I'll be there soon, Esme is coming too." Edward said, the sound of his Volvo in the backround.

"Edward, don't upset Esme. I really love it, I'm just slightly overwhelmed." I said, finally looking at the entire room. Somehow, Esme and Alice had managed to completely change the front room to the way it had been before my parents had died. Although the furniture, paint, and everything was brand new, all the pictures and such that I had believed destroyed by Jessica, Lauren, and Victoria were there.

"How were they able to do this?" I asked, suddenly close to tears as I spotted a handmade quilt from my grandma.

"It was Esme's gift to you, upstairs is Alice's form of a gift." Edward laughed, Esme laughing beside him.

"Just come in when you get here, I'm going to look through the rest." I said, hanging up after a few more seconds. The front room now was bright, cream colored walls managing to work with the dark chocolate suede couches. I noticed the heavy draps that once covered the windows whenever Victoria and the rest were home were completely replaced, the new thick cream colored draps now pulled to show the outside.

I moved into the kitchen slowly, amazed by the new changes. The walls were a very pale yellow, matching perfectly with the black cabinets and appliances. The old table had been replaced, I steared clear of the new dark wood table, the four chairs tucked under matched perfectly. I saw several more pictures alining the walls, childhood pictures of me, my parents and wedding pictures for my parents. Every picture that had contained Victoria, Jessica, or Lauren had been torn out. The expensive china that had been left to me after my mother's death was tucked away in the cabinet.

"Bella?" Esme and Edward called, walking towards where I stood. "Are you alright?" Edward asked, standing by my side.

"I'm fine." I said, turning first to him, then Esme and smiling. "Thank you Esme. I honestly never believed I would see any of this again."

"I thought you finally deserved some kindness, after the hell you went through with those monsters." Esme said, slightly flustered.

"Thank you." I said again, smiling at her.

"Come on, I'll show you the upstairs...Alice may have gotten a little excited over getting to have free reign." Esme said, grabbing a hold of my hand and pulling me upstairs with her. I caught sight of the rooms that had belonged to Jessica and Lauren and smiled as I realized that they were completely empty, the walls now painted white. "You can do whatever you want with those rooms, we left that up to you." Esme smiled, letting go of my hand as we approached my bedroom.

"Is it completely crazy?" I asked, looking over at her.

"Depends on who's looking at it. I honestly believe that you will like it but..." She broke off, slightly pushing me into the bedroom.

"It doesn't seem too bad." I shrugged, looking around my now larger room.

"We expanded into Victoria's room, knocked out the wall that was right here," She said, signaling the far side. "And we connected your room to the bathroom through there." She pointed to a closed door on my right.

"This only took you two and a half days?" I asked, slightly astonished as I looked around the room completely. The carpet that used to cover the room had been torn out, replaced with a dark wood. "This is my mom's old carpet." I said, looking down at the beautiful dark purple floor rug. I noticed that it matched the very pretty cream colored walls. The beautiful black and deep purple swirl design on the roof matched the cover on my bed perfectly. "My dad bought me this right before he died...Victoria took it and gave it to Lauren." I frowned, touching the soft fabric.

"Everything we thought would have a deeper meaning for you was brought back in. The quilt we found within the house, along with everything else. The lamp, every single picture, the comforter we all found in a storage container." She said, smiling at me. "Of course, when Alice discovered that Victoria had destroyed all your clothes, she saw it as the perfect opportunity to go shopping." She pulled open my closet doors, able to walk into the larger closet.

"Oh lord, what did she do?" I groaned, slamming the doors closed. Esme laughed, walking with me back down the stairs.

"I tried to reason with her, knowing that you weren't the type to hyperventilate at the sight of a tag saying Versace or Gucci or even Prada." She shrugged, looking over at me as I paled.

"Oh no! She bought all that?" I asked, knowing that I would never be able to repay Alice.

"It was her gift to you." Edward said as we stopped in front of him.

"I love your sister, I really do, but I honestly believe that she has a problem and she needs to seek help." I said as Edward grabbed a hold of my hand softly.

"Trust me, we have all tried one way or another." Edward said, smiling.

"Carlisle and I even tried to take her credit cards away but of course she could see it!" Esme groaned, breaking out into laughter.

"Okay well we're going to pretend that I went insane, I tried everything on, hell I even passed out at the sight of all those clothes, just so Alice can have her excitement." I said, staring first at Edward and then towards Esme.

"Hey! Don't look at me, all I wanted was a piano to put in here so I could play for you, but Esme said no." He said, frowning jokingly at his mother.

"I thought you said you didn't know about it." I said, trying to hide the fact that his words had practically melted my insides.

"Uh...well," He groaned, grabbing a hold of his phone.

"Oh! You are such a liar!" I whispered, suddenly feeling dizzy.

"Are you alright?" Esme asked, trying to save her son from me finding out about anymore things he had hidden from me.

"I'm fine, just a tiny bit dizzy." I said, feeling better already.

"Edward? We should probably be going, Bella needs some sleep." Esme said, grabbing and hanging up Edward's phone. "I'll be outside." She said, smiling towards Edward and pressing a kiss to my cheek. She stepped outside, leaving us alone.

"Do you want me to come back later? Or are you mad?" He asked, frowning slightly.

"I'm not mad." I laughed, honestly laughed. "Of course I want you to come back! I might be asleep so you can probably just slip in." I said, yawning slightly. I hated this, ever since I had been sick I was tiring so much faster.

"Alright." He smiled, stepping closer. "Apparently we're not allowed to stay home any longer, so we have school tomorrow. Esme was wondering whether or not you would like to stay on independent study?" He asked, frowning slightly.

"No! I hated independent study." I said, knowing that Victoria had used it as a punishment.

"Alright, then try to get some sleep. And I'll be back shortly." He said, pressing a careful kiss to first my forehead then my lips. I stayed there for a minute, smiling goofishly as he finally left with an openly grinning Esme. As I made my way up towards my room, I finally decided that even with the psychotic shopping done by Alice, this was probably the happiest day of my life.

**Okay People!! The End! I'm planning on doing a sequel so please, visit my profile and answer a poll regarding it. Please REVIEW!!!!**

**Also, I'll post tomorrow regarding the sequel and everything**


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